The much-anticipated Scion FR-S and Subaru BRZ are finally reaching dealerships. While I'm excited that these new coupes—rear-drivers that fully embrace traditional sports-car virtues—are in the marketplace, I can't help but feel that there's something strange about the way they're marketed. In case you haven't noticed, these two cars are mechanically identical and look very similar.

We've seen more than a few cars in the past share engines and platforms. In some cases, they were offered by the same manufacturer with different body styles (an example is the Toyota Camry/Lexus ES 350). In other cases, manufacturers from different countries marketed "fraternal twin" products to their respective customers (Toyota Matrix/Pontiac Vibe and Mercedes-Benz SLK/Chrysler Crossfire). But in the case of the FR-S and BRZ, manufacturers from the same country are marketing "identical twin" cars to basically the same customer.

Why?

2013 Subaru BRZ

According to an editor at XaCAR, an enthusiast magazine in Japan, it all started with Toyota CEO Akio Toyoda's insistence of producing an enthusiast entry-level sports car. "When he took the reins at Toyota, he wanted to transform Toyota's image into one as a maker of exciting sporty products. One of his priorities was to build a car like the old AE86. And because Toyota didn't have the means to build such a car in a quick cost-efficient manner, Toyota's brass decided to employ the help of Subaru, already an established maker of sporty compacts. Simply put, Toyota put its wild card into play, that wild card being its part ownership of Fuji Heavy Industries, Subaru's parent company," he said.

2013 Scion FR-S

Apparently, Subaru had little choice but to agree to Toyota's proposal of building this vehicle, but the smaller automaker would also be allowed to market the car under its own badge. So now we have two nearly identical cars from two different Japanese carmakers competing in the same market segment.

2013 Subaru BRZ

For the record, Toyota and Subaru don't see it that way. Toyota says its version targets young buyers, sold utilizing Scion's purchase process that features a mono-spec blank canvas and a no-haggle, no-hassle price point, both of which aren't offered by Subaru. Jack Hollis, vice president and general manager at Scion, says: "Like all Scions, the FR-S will come in one trim level, leaving the owner to only make decisions for color and transmission. The owner will then have the ability to personalize their FR-S by choosing from a list of accessories that can be added a la carte. They don't need to choose a trim package that will leave them with options that they might not want."

2013 Scion FR-S

In the other corner, Subaru explains that its car is more upscale than the Scion and will attract a more mature buyer. "We see the brands as being quite different, Scion appealing to a more youthful audience, while the Subaru will appeal to someone who already has another car in the garage. The BRZ will also differentiate itself with different trim levels, and it will come with more standard equipment and be sold in smaller numbers. So there is a more exclusive ownership experience. Subaru buyers will be interested in getting the original article as well—we built this car," says Dominick Infante, national manager of product public relations for Subaru.

2013 Subaru BRZ

Good PR spin, but I'm not biting. I can't imagine the FR-S and BRZ appealing to such vastly different demographics—for goodness' sake, the two cars are the same! That said, I do now see how the two companies are trying to make this all work with minimal cannibalization: It seems they want the customer to consider the FR-S and BRZ as one model, with the Scion and Subaru badges representing different trim levels, in much the same way you would look at, say, a base Corvette and a Z06. In this case, the base car is the Scion (estimated price is $22,000), while the same car with what we'll call the "Subaru BRZ package" represents an upgrade version (estimated at $25,000).

2013 Scion FR-S

Looking at it this way, it makes some sense, but it's certainly not obvious, especially to those who aren't knowledgeable about cars. The coming months will tell if this little scheme plays out the way Toyota and Subaru drew it up, but I think they should have agreed to sell the car just as a Toyota (not a Scion or a Subaru), which would have created a broader buyer base, and avoided all of the confusion.

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