News has been flying around the interwebs about a possible Subaru Tribeca-based Scion SUV. Toyota had bought up the stake in Fuji Heavy Industries, the parent company of Subaru, that GM decided to drop back in 2005; right away, Toyota started building Camrys in an under-utilized Subaru plant in Illinois. Now comes the idea of a “Scibeca” sport ‘ute as the fourth model line in youth brand Scion.
What I think is actually happening in the annals of Toyota mastermind is an Scion to put up a fight against the STi’s and Evo’s on L.A.’s streets. Taking Subie’s extensive know-how in AWD and sporting vehicles, and casting it onto a new Scion model. Selling some sort of all-wheel drive sportster would make more sense than a mid-sized SUV with Scions target buyers. Something about mom-mobile doesn’t scream “trendsetters!” to me.