Toyota to discontinue its youth-oriented Scion brand

Toyota is doing away with its Scion brand, as the automaker repositions the line of funky small vehicles which launched more than a decade ago to attract young North American buyers.

Toyota said its decision to scrap the brand was "made in response to customers' needs."

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Scion launched in the U.S. in 2003. The brand was not introduced to Canada until 2010.

Toyota said it will rebadgethree of its 2017 model-year Scions as Toyotas, beginning in August. One model, the tC coupe, will no longer be produced as of that month.

Scion sales in Canada and the U.S. peaked at 173,034 vehicles in 2006, but have fallen backsince then. Toyota sold just 56,167 Scion vehicles in2015.

Younger customers

But Toyota insiststhe Scion brand did what it was supposed to do attract buyers who were younger and new to Toyota. The companysays half of Scion buyers were under the age of 35.

In Canada, almost two-thirds of Scions sold were bought by customers who'd never bought any Toyota products.

"Our goal was to make Toyota and our dealers stronger by learning how to better attract and engage young customers," said Toyota Canada CEO Larry Hutchinson. "This is exactly what we have accomplished."

Scions arenot sold in standalone dealerships. The brand is sold only through Toyota's 1,004 existing dealerships in Canada, the U.S., and Puerto Rico.

The automaker says its Toyota dealerships will continue to service and repair Scions.