Everybody is hurting, with the exception of Subaru perhaps. GM has been in the poor house before being spit out of Chapter 11 as a Mini Me version of its old self.
But it came as a surprise when we heard Toyota's youth-oriented Scion brand has been the hardest hit of all its divisions, dropping by double the rate of the entire Toyota empire. The answer: expand. As waves of wistful youths run amok in the economy, it's clear that freshness is key. You gotta work that attention span and the frames click by pretty quickly these days.
Scion came out of the gate like a thoroughbred, its first vehicle, the xB, was a big hit. Was this because it had direct JDM ties being a reworked JDM bB? We think so. The new xB lost that link and has started to sink, taking the rest of the Scion badge along for the ride.
We say try the initial xB formula with the Toyota IQ-Scion iQ anyone? The pictured 5Axis concept should get the proper glands secreting. But the clock is ticking as Kia and its hamster-powered commercials for the Soul and Nissan's quirky Cube are staking claims to the territory.