NEW YORK MOTOR SHOW: Scion is believing

When is a new model not a new model as such? When it's a Scion...

Two new Scion releases launched at the New York motor show – the iA sedan and iM hatch – are actually badge-engineered efforts leveraging parent company Toyota's global resources, including a strategic tie-up with rival Mazda.

Scion is not a brand known in Australia, but in the USA it's Toyota's offshoot aimed at people who consider themselves too cool to buy a Toyota-badged car.

The cars we know as the Toyota 86 and Rukus are respectively sold in America as the Scion FR-S and xB, but the Toyota Camry here is also the Toyota Camry in America.

Scion's latest models, launched in New York, are actually cars that we already know in one form or another. The Scion iA is the latest-generation Mazda2, with a boot. It's powered by the same 1.5-litre four-cylinder engine driving through either a six-speed manual transmission or Mazda's SKYACTIV-Drive six-speed automatic. As we reported about 18 months ago, it was always planned that Mazda would build the '2' for Toyota, in Mazda's own plant in Mexico, but at the time the word was the badge-engineered product would be marketed as a Toyota – and the Scion name wasn't even mentioned.

In the US, the Scion iA is to be sold in just one level of trim, priced from US $16,000 and featuring a seven-inch infotainment screen and voice recognition, cruise control, electric windows/mirrors, keyless entry/start, a reversing camera and pre-collision safety system operating at low speeds. Scion has a 'Pure Price' policy, which means the price advertised is the transaction price.

Neither the company nor its dealers will enter into negotiation on price, which arguably saves the customer that stressful, combative hassle – although some customers are more likely to be stressed out by the proscription against negotiating. This policy was originally introduced to the American market by now defunct GM brand, Saturn, which later dispensed with the idea.

The other 'new' model from Scion is the iM, which is the car known in other parts of the world as the Toyota Auris, and which we know as the Corolla hatch. Americans can buy a Corolla, but only the sedan body style is available over there. Scion has not revealed the price of the iM, but it will be powered by the Corolla's 1.8-litre four-cylinder engine and offered with the choice of six-speed manual or the continuously variable transmission also available here.

Like the iA, the iM will be sold in just one level of trim, which the company hints will come in under US $20,000, with equipment including 17-inch alloys, eight airbags, Hill Start Assist, six-speaker audio system with seven-inch screen, reversing camera, leather-bound multi-function steering wheel, trip computer, dual-zone climate control, power folding mirrors and auto-on/off headlights.