All Entries Tagged With: "scion pickup"

Toyota Building Prius-Flavored Pickup?

This week’s Automotive News breaks down Toyota’s product plans for the next few years, including supposed plans for a Prius branded compact pickup – likely based on the A-Bat concept pictured here:

A truck based on this concept has been rumored for some time – a hybrid version has been hinted at over the last few years, and Scion President Jack Hollis has hinted at a Scion version of the A-BAT concept for a few months now.

Here’s what we think:

Five Reasons Car-Based Pickups Will NEVER Sell in The USA

To some, the pickup truck design goal of the decade is to come up with a ‘workable’ small pickup truck that’s small, inexpensive, and decent in terms of fuel economy. Many smart commentators – including Car Guy Dad most recently – have advocated for this type of truck.

See these images of this heavily modded Scion xB dubbed Scion El xBamino.

However, there are at least 5 reasons that we’ll never see a successful small, car-based pickup in the U.S.

Will Consumers Buy Compact, Unibody Scion Pickups?

Toyota has been kicking around the concept of building a compact unibody pickup for it’s Scion brand. While Toyota’s motivations aren’t completely clear, they probably go a little something like this:

1. Because the Tacoma has grown from compact to midsize, there might be room in the marketplace for a truly compact pickup truck.
2. Truck owners seem to be fiercely loyal to a particular brand, and this loyalty is often fostered at a young age. Building a cheap compact Toyota truck gives us a chance to grow a lifetime customer.
3. A compact pickup would help Toyota meet our federal fleet fuel economy rating.
4. Compact little unibody pickups have some appeal worldwide.
5. Toyota is really, really good at building small vehicles.

So there you have it – Toyota’s case for building a compact pickup for the Scion brand. Now let’s break it down a little further.