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Andrew Gilleland is new VP of Scion, Murtha moves to Toyota

Scion is getting some fresh blood at the top as Andrew Gilleland (pictured above) becomes the new vice president to take over for Doug Murtha. Gilleland is no stranger to the division, and served as the national field operations manager early in the brand's launch. Murtha moves to take leadership of corporate strategy and planning for Toyota in North America. "Now it's Andrew's charge to spread the message of the style and value of the iM and iA, as well as a third new vehicle that will be added to the lineup," Toyota division group vice president Bill Fay said in the announcement. Gilleland moves up from being general manager of Toyota's central Atlantic regional office. He takes the reins at Scion at a potential turning point for the division. Sales volume for the year through August is down 22.1 percent to 32,691 vehicles, but some big changes are afoot. The long-lived xB is likely about to bow out, and the brand is launching two new products with the iM and iA. They're getting some celebrity advertising, too. Spy shots also suggest the FR-S might get a refresh soon. Plus, the third model Fay teases is expected to be a compact crossover, possibly with styling inspiration from the Toyota C-HR concept. Scion could get a big boost by having an entry in that booming segment. New Products, Previous Player - Scion Introduces New Vice President Andrew Gilleland Returns to Youth Brand September 24, 2015 TORRANCE, Calif. (Sept. 24, 2015) – In the early days of Scion, when xAs and xBs were flying out of dealers' showrooms, Andrew Gilleland was the National Field Operations Manager for the youth brand. He was responsible for working with dealers to ensure they embraced the new products and processes Scion offered. Now, Scion is entering its teen years, and Gilleland is back as Vice President of Scion, once again encouraging dealers to sell its new models and investigate new methods to attract young buyers. "Scion has sold nearly a million vehicles since I left in 2005 and I'm excited to be back leading this team," said Gilleland. "The iM 5-door hatchback and iA sports sedan arrived at dealerships earlier this month and the response has been great.

Scion was slain by Toyota, not the Great Recession

Scion didn't have to go down like this. Through the magic of hindsight and hubris, it's easier to see what went wrong. And what might have been. What the industry should understand is this: Scion wasn't a losing proposition from the get-go. Its death is due to negligence and apathy. This is more than just the failure of a sub-brand. It's the failure of a company to deliver new and compelling products over an extended period of time. Toyota will point to the Great Recession as the reason it hedged its bets and withdrew funding for new vehicles, instead of using that as an opportunity to redouble efforts. This was as good as a death warrant, although myopically no one realized it at the time. Sadly, GM's Saturn experiment was a road map for this exact form of failure. No one at Toyota seemed to think the Saturn experience was worth protecting their experimental brand from. Or they weren't heard. Brands live and die on product. Somehow, Scion convinced itself that its real success metric was a youthful demographic of buyers. It seems like this was used to gauge the overall health of the brand. Look at the aging and uncompetitive tC, which Scion proudly noted had a 29-year-old average buyer. That fails to take into account its lack of curb appeal and flagging sales. Who cares if the declining number of people buying your cars are younger? Toyota is going to kill the tC thirteen years [And two indifferent generations ... - Ed.] after it was introduced. In that time, Honda has come out with three entirely new generations of the Civic. Scion wasn't a losing proposition from the get-go. Its death is due to negligence and apathy. At launch, the brand could have gone a few different ways. The xB was plucky, interesting, and useful – a tough mix of ephemeral characteristics – but the xA didn't offer much except a thin veneer of self-consciously applied attitude. That's ok; it was cute. Enter the tC, which managed to combine sporty pretensions with decent cost. It took on the Civic Coupe in the contest for coolness, and usually managed to win. More importantly, an explicit brand value early on was a desire to avoid second generations of any of its models, promising a continually evolving and fresh lineup. At this point, the road splits. Down one lane lies the Scion that could have been. After a short but reasonable product lifecycle, it would have renewed the entire lineup.

Scion FR-S Release Series 2.0 offers subtle sophistication

The 2016 Detroit Auto Show offers a chance to get a closer look at Scion's subdued FR-S Release Series 2.0. Toyota's youth-oriented branch is experimenting with a slightly more luxurious take on the FR-S. Just 1,000 examples will be made. The Release Series 1.0 showed Scion leaning heavily on the FR-S' sporty image with bright yellow paint, a lowered suspension, and quad exhaust outlets, but the 2.0 takes the opposite approach. The exterior wears a subtle body kit that features a discreet front lip and trunk lid spoiler. A nondescript light beige color called Lunar Storm isn't particularly notable, but at least the black 17-inch wheels lend a little aggressiveness. Inside, Scion keeps drivers warm and holds them tight in heated seats with upholstery that combines black Alcantara and light brown leather. The trim for the steering wheel, door panels, and much of the stitching matches this motif. The Release Series 2.0 also comes with luxury features like push-button start, dual-zone climate control, and HID headlights. Check out the limited FR-S in our gallery above. Prices for the Release Series 2.0 start at $30,305 (after $795 destination) with the six-speed manual or $31,405 for the automatic. SCION PAIRS SPORTS AND STYLE FOR 2016 FR-S RELEASE SERIES 2.0 TORRANCE, Calif., (Oct. 29, 2015) – Drivers of the 2016 Scion FR-S Release Series 2.0 will look better than ever in the most stylish version of the sports car ever offered. The new FR-S Release Series 2.0 comes with luxurious appointments and premium features, and with just 1,000 vehicles available, it's the most elusive and exclusive Scion Release Series yet. The interior creates the lap of luxury with heated seats in black Alcantara and leather with camel-colored accents. The same black and camel theme continues to the leather-trimmed steering wheel while the shift knob and parking brake lever are covered in black leather. Camel trim also appears on the door armrest and the upper door trim while the center armrest and knee pads are black. Camel accent stitching is prominent throughout the interior and embroidered on the dash insert is the release series badge, sequentially numbered from 1 to 1000. Additional luxury features include Smart key with push-button start, dual-zone automatic climate control and HID headlamps with LED daylight running lamps. On the outside, the Release Series 2.0 will make a statement with Lunar Storm paint and 17-inch forged alloy wheels.