Toyota's Scion division May Add a Small Pickup to its Lineup!

Toyota's Scion division is reportedly studying the idea of adding small compact pickup to its lineup. Scion's General Manager Jack Hollis told Ward's Auto, Trucks are "not off the table," Hollis says in an interview at the 2010 North American International Auto Show here. "If I said, 'off the table,' I'd like to take that back." "Toyota has such a strong heritage of doing a very good job with youth and with trucks, when you look at (the Toyota) Tacoma - I'm not trying to be too cocky, but we pretty much have owned that segment for a long time. We have to find a niche. I think there is room for it."
The main issue with introducing a new smaller truck to the Scion brand is what it might do to Toyota's Tacoma sales. The Tacoma is the sales leader in the compact truck market, selling 111,824 units, while the runner up, the Ford Ranger only sold 55,600. Scion feels that today's compact trucks have increased in size compared to the earlier models, so there may be room for a smaller pickup.
If Scion does decide to add a small pickup, it would be interesting to see what it would look like. Maybe a modified version of the Hako concept from the 2008 New York Auto Show? In the meantime Scion is set to unveil a new model at this year's New York Auto Show that will hopefully help it regain some of its sales that the brand has lost in the last few years.