Is Toyota Euthanizing the Itsy Bitsy Scion IQ?
The tiny two-door is dwarfed by just about everything else on the road today with the exception of perhaps the smart. The only thing that’s smaller than the iQ’s bodywork is its sales performance. In all of 2012 dealers delivered fewer that 8,900 of the little buggers.
Last year’s numbers were dreadful at best but it’s even worse now. For the first nine months of 2013 Scion stores sold just 3,365 iQs.
Presaging the car’s demise, it’s reported the Aston Martin Cygnet is going away. While it was questionable why such a respected company would offer a small car based on something utterly pedestrian the results were all too predictable. Aston Martin delivered just 150 Cygnets over a three-year period.
Now the plug is getting pulled. The British brand had hoped Toyota would do more with the supermini. They wanted to build a supercharged model with more power and bring the Cygnet to America but the Japanese automaker kind of let it die on the vine. Now it’s reported Toyota will cease building the iQ for Europe sometime next year. Sounds like the end of the line to us.
Discuss this story on our Scion forum.
Born and raised in metro Detroit, Craig was steeped in mechanics from childhood. He feels as much at home with a wrench or welding gun in his hand as he does behind the wheel or in front of a camera. Putting his Bachelor's Degree in Journalism to good use, he's always pumping out videos, reviews, and features for AutoGuide.com. When the workday is over, he can be found out driving his fully restored 1936 Ford V8 sedan. Craig has covered the automotive industry full time for more than 10 years and is a member of the Automotive Press Association (APA) and Midwest Automotive Media Association (MAMA).
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