Fitting Into The Family: The 2017 Toyota Corolla iM

The 2017 Toyota Corolla iM.

Twenty months ago, I wrote that the iM was the future for Scion.  At that moment, none of us outside the walls of Toyota knew the brand had no future.  It was four months and four days after that review posted that Toyota announced it was shutting down Scion.  Some models were killed off, but homes were found for others, including the iM, which is now the Corolla iM.

The Future For Scion? The 2016 Scion iM

The 2016 Scion iM.

Twelve years ago, Toyota launched the Scion brand, the object being to lure younger buyers who saw Toyota as "Mom and Dad's" brand.  The Scion xA and xB not only didn't set the world on fire, they sold largely to Grandma and Grandad.

More recently, Scion has introduced cars with some genuine youth appeal, the tC, which did well for a while, but has faded, and the FR-S, a car we like so much that it (as of this writing) is in the list of TireKicker's Best Cars on the right hand side of this page. Still, it's a low-volume car and Scion could use some sheer numbers.  The new iM may be just the car to do that.