Le Journal

Scion will serve as a test lab as Toyota shifts to mobility. Hybrid-powered 01 Concept could enter production soon. Toyota axed the Scion brand in 2016 after just 13 years. At the recent SEMA show in Las Vegas, Toyota brought the Scion brand back from the dead, unveiling a wild side-by-side concept using the same hybrid powertrain as the Tacoma. So, what does the future hold for Scion? According to Don Federico, the chief engineer behind the Scion 01 Concept, Scion is being revived “as an opportunity for mobility.” Curiously, Scion has been notably absent from recent Toyota announcements. Read: Toyota Brought Scion Back From The Dead And Broke Every Rule Speaking with Road & Track at SEMA, Federico said Scion is “getting back to the roots of Scion, which was supposed to be this test laboratory. This is that.” Importantly, this does not mean that you’ll be seeing new Scion products on a road near you anytime soon. Scion 01 Concept Federico says that we will see several different products from Scion in the future, including “things that aren’t vehicles.” That means there could be more funky creations like the 01 Concept on the horizon. “Our chairman Akio Toyoda famously said ‘we’re becoming a mobility company,’ so you’re seeing a few mobility products here, and this is, maybe, the brand that could carry the vehicles for us. Not traditional vehicles.” In the near-term, Federico is pushing for the Scion 01 Concept to production. If it does make it, it could serve as an offbeat rival to side-by-sides from brands like Yamaha, Polaris, Can-Am, and Kawasaki. “I’m trying to build a case here,” he said. “The excitement that we saw from SEMA really helped, and if we can continue that story it’d be very helpful.” Toyota axed the Scion brand in February 2016, just 13 years after its market debut. The company was supposed to appeal to younger customers and sold several intriguing cars, including the xB, tC, xD, and of course, the Scion FR-S (a rebadged Toyota GT 86). Scion tC

Judge says Tesla used deceptive marketing for Autopilot system. Tesla may face 30-day sales and production license ban. DMV granted Tesla 60 days to revise Autopilot messaging. Tesla must be cursing California’s DMV this week, while also secretly feeling thankful for its mercy, after a judge ruled that the company’s marketing around the Autopilot driver assist package was misleading. The DMV brought the case, but it’s also given Tesla 60 days to clean up its language rather than immediately impose the sales and manufacturing license suspensions the judge recommended. Also: Tesla Penalized Over A Word In Driver Assistance Tests And It Could Cost Them More Than A Score The case stems from a 2022 complaint in which the DMV accused Tesla of overselling what its driver assistance systems could do. The agency said Tesla’s branding and website descriptions suggested the cars could essentially drive themselves when, in reality, the tech required a fully attentive human ready to intervene at any moment. The judge agreed and pointed to the phrase Full Self Driving capability as particularly problematic. The ruling said a reasonable consumer would assume a feature with that name could operate without constant driver attention, which is untrue both technologically and legally. Tesla has since shifted to the name ‘Full Self Driving (Supervised)’, but the judge said past usage still crossed the line. DMV’s Reprieve The recommended penalty originally included a 30-day suspension of Tesla’s sales and manufacturing licenses in California. The DMV softened that slightly. It permanently stayed the manufacturing suspension to avoid disrupting operations and will only suspend the sales license if Tesla fails to address the Autopilot wording within 60 days. Tesla responded by insisting this was a consumer-protection debate over terminology and claimed no customer had complained. It also said sales in California will continue without interruption. That might be true today, but the clock is ticking. More Legal Problems The DMV’s case didn’t reference specific consumer complaints, but CNBC News points out that Tesla is still facing a class action lawsuit from owners claiming they were misled about self-driving capabilities. Meanwhile, Tesla’s stock hit a record this week on excitement surrounding its robotaxi plans, which might explain why the company would prefer not to rewrite its marketing language to downplay its autonomous expertise. For now, Tesla has two months to decide whether it wants to argue with regulators or simply update a few words on its website. Either way, the saga around Autopilot and FSD is far from over.