Scion iR Trademarked

[AF News Desk]

A car called the Scion iR could be the next car to join in the ranks among Toyota’s affordable sub-brand.

Toyota filed to protect the nameplate on April 23 covering automobiles for four or more passengers for use in Canada, the U.S. and Puerto Rico. Scion just revealed two new nameplates at the 2015 New York Auto Show: the iA and iM. The iA is a badge engineered version of the Mazda2 sedan while the iM is a Scion-branded version of the Toyota Auris hatchback.

Scion sales through the first quarter of 2015 are down by 17.1 percent and things would be worse were it not for the xB and tC that are both serving to soften the consequences of their slow selling stablemates. Sales of the FR-S sports car are down 28.6 percent through March. Meanwhile the xD and iQ are limping along.Scion iR

The iM doesn’t have the same boxy design as the xB, but they share similar enough dimensions to make the iM a viable replacement to for customers in the market for a replacement to either the xB or the Toyota Matrix.

The iA will benefit from Mazda’s upmarket interior design and superior chassis engineering while giving Scion its first crack at selling a sedan.

Earlier this year, Scion boss Doug Murtha said Scion’s third new product won’t be a crossover, bu that it will be based on a Toyota product marketed globally. One possibility could be a re-badged version of the Aygo city car.

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