28/08/2008 12:20. After five years generating big headlines and relatively small sales, Toyota's youth-oriented Scion brand is at a crossroads.

Toyota executives are rethinking some of the basic principles they set out for the brand - how many and what kind of vehicles Scion should sell - as they work to keep it fresh and innovative.

It's unclear whether they can do it, and some industry observers have begun to ask whether Scion was a misstep by Toyota's usually sure-footed strategists.

"Toyota doesn't need Scion," said Art Spinella, president of CNW Research, Bandon, Ore. "They should have spent the money on developing Toyota-branded products," he said, likening Scion to Saturn, which some critics say distracted GM from improving its established brands.

"Toyota's been following the GM model for... // Modesto Bee