The Scion brand was launched by Toyota in North America in 2003, targeting Generation Y customers. Its lineup included the xA, xB, tC, and the affordable sports coupe FR-S. It also pioneered new approaches to marketing and sales, including online retail initiatives and extensive customization options. 

Over time, however, customer expectations evolved. Younger buyers increasingly sought practicality alongside style and driving enjoyment, while many of the lessons learned through Scion had already been incorporated into Toyota-brand vehicles. In 2016, Toyota announced that the Scion brand would transition into Toyota. 

More than one million Scion vehicles were sold, with roughly 70 percent of buyers new to Toyota–about half were under the age of 35. This helped Toyota attract an entirely new customer base in North America.

Simon Humphries, Chief Branding Officer at Toyota, reflected on what Scion by Toyota carries forward from the original Scion brand in the United States.

"Good evening, everyone. It's good to be back in Texas, a place that's never been afraid to think big." 

"At Toyota, we have always been driven by product. But product itself is driven by people. That may sound obvious. But it is fundamental to the way we think about our brands. Because we don't design for an average. We design for someone. We try to see the world through their eyes. Where they live. What they need. What excites them. We create something with character exactly for them." 

That thinking can be seen in vehicles across Toyota's global portfolio, from the adventure-ready Tacoma in the United States, to the boldly expressive Crown Sport in Japan, and the endlessly adaptable Hilux Champ in Thailand. 

Humphries emphasized that the vehicles may be very different and the people who drive them may also be different. "Very different vehicles. Very different people. But all unmistakably Toyota."

At the same time, some experiences can only exist when a brand creates a world entirely its own.

Since its launch, Lexus has challenged conventional assumptions about what a premium automotive brand could be, not only through its vehicles, but also through the experiences it creates for customers, the services it provides, and the relationships it builds. That pursuit produced vehicles such as the LFA, a car that became a symbol of Lexus's willingness to push beyond expectations.

As change accelerates around the world, Lexus continues evolving as well, pursuing a future of luxury centered ever more closely on the individual needs and aspirations of each customer.

Yet for some people, moving forward means something entirely different. Sometimes, it means going faster.

That spirit led Humphries to talk about the next brand in Toyota's portfolio: GR. Built around Toyota Chairman and Master Driver Akio Toyoda's conviction that roads build cars and that motorsports develops both cars and people, GR exists to challenge and improve through competition. 

"GR exists because some people find freedom in the pursuit of speed. It is forged on the track and lives through community." 

Drivers, engineers, mechanics, and enthusiasts all play a role in that process, pushing one another to continuously improve. 
Humphries then highlighted another brand with an equally distinctive identity: “Century. A very different understanding of what ultimate luxury can mean.”

Each of these brands offers a unique perspective and a unique experience.
Century. Lexus. GR. Toyota. Daihatsu.

Humphries summarized the philosophy simply: "Different brands for different people." 
Taken together, these brands cover an extraordinarily broad spectrum of the automotive world.

Humphries wanted the audience to consider the meaning of “the automotive world.” He explained: "People, their desire for mobility doesn't begin and end with the car. There is so much more beyond it." 

And that is where Scion by Toyota comes in.

Those familiar with Scion may remember its original mission. More than twenty years ago, the brand gave a new generation access to something the automotive mainstream didn’t.

"You didn't simply buy a Scion, you made it your own. And in its time, that was quite rebellious." 

While Humphries emphasized that the original Scion existed within the boundaries of the automobile, " … this time, we're setting out to do something different. To go beyond those boundaries and redefine them." 

"This is not a reboot of Scion." 
Humphries explained the inspiration behind the project by recalling a conversation with Toyoda, who said: "Why not bring these new ideas for new mobility solutions together under the Scion name... to take that same experimental spirit and point it somewhere new." 

Visitors to last year's SEMA (Specialty Equipment Market Association) Show may already have seen the first signs of this direction through the Scion 01 concept. Humphries said: "It was a glimpse, but also a statement of intent."

“As human beings, we have always been wired to be curious. To have this innate desire to push a little further. To ask, what else is possible? To want to know, what’s beyond?” 

That idea is reflected in the brand's slogan: "With Scion by Toyota... Beyond Starts Here." 
Beyond Roads. Beyond Boundaries. Beyond Measure.
Scion by Toyota, Humphries said, gives Toyota the freedom to expand the horizon of mobility itself. 

He explained this horizon as Freedom Lab: "A place to experiment what's next. Beyond Challenge. Beyond Convention. Beyond Blueprints. A place where new ideas can evolve into something meaningful. Something our customers can make their own." 

Humphries stressed that Scion by Toyota provides only the starting point. "But Beyond finishes with you.”

“Use it in a way we hadn't imagined. Put your mark on it."

Perhaps Scion by Toyota is something like an unwritten book.
As Humphries put it: "We know the first few pages. We know why it needs to exist. We may not know every chapter. But we know where to start."

What that beginning looks like will vary from one region of the world to another. 
Take America. A vast country of wide-open spaces, where nearly 70 percent of the land lies beyond paved roads. “That’s quite an invitation to explore, isn’t it? Especially from behind the wheel of our adventure-ready Side by Side Concept. So why not start there.”

The next idea takes that thinking one step further: “We've also been exploring how our BKE Concept could extend your adventure when the road can take you no further.” 
Yet going beyond convention does not always mean thinking bigger. “Sometimes, it's about making more possible with something smaller.”

That idea is embodied by the KEI-01 (“kay zero one”), a compact vehicle designed to do far more than its dimensions might suggest. 

“Of course, we've been thinking in all shapes and sizes. Some of what we've created may feel familiar. Some of it, perhaps, less so. Each one starts in a different place. But each one takes us somewhere beyond the expected.”

Humphries then invited the audience to see what that future could look like: “And now, perhaps it’s time to see ‘beyond’ take shape. Because imagining the possibilities is one thing. Actually building them? That's where the fun begins.”

And with that, he handed the stage to the person who helped turn those ideas into reality.

"So, let's take a look at what 'Beyond' looks like in practice. And there's no one better to introduce these concepts than the person who helped bring them to life. Don, over to you."