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As the latest sales show (and have been showing for some time now) Scion is one hot mess. And though the best advice we can give is for Toyota to start selling its JDM confections as Toyotas, somehow we don’t think the big T wants to hear it. Instead, why not pick a new lineup from the latest batch of Daihatsu concepts shown at the Tokyo show [courtesy:AutoBild]? Or better yet, post a link to other Toyota/Daihatsu products that could pep up the least youthful “youth brand’s” sales. After all, anything would be better than leaving Scion as-is.
45 Comments on “Pick Your Scion Lineup...”
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Those are some sexy vehicles.
If you’re going to the Halloween party as a moving box, that is.
they look like phone boxes on wheels
I can’t wait for the “Roger Rabbit ‘Toon Town” limited edition.
I doubt that any of these cars will sell in the US, but Canadians will likely buy them. We already have many imported JDM vehicles on the road, and I think the Smart sells fairly well here (compared to the US).
I even see the occasional imported Scion on the road (imported from the US).
These should appeal to all those ‘youth’s’ who never got to ride in a school bus when they were little.
Ii think we’ve found a company that can out-Bangle BMW.
Given the popularity of the original Scion xB and the current Kia Soul which doesn’t have any rebates I think they actually could sell the black one and the blue one (pictures #2 & 4). Only reason the current xB doesn’t sell like the original is it’s too far removed from the original. There is a market for high mileage low priced distinctive vehicles like these whether they fit our tastes or not.
That uber-square monstrosity: isn’t that just an up-to-date (albeit smaller) version of the Chevy Van that was deservedly crucified this week in Curbside Classics?
Like many other car models, Scion was doing just fine, until Toyota started listening to focus groups.
Focus groups liked the original xB, except they wanted it to be bigger, more powerful, and less boxy.
Which really means that THEY DID NOT LIKE IT AT ALL.
So rather than continuing to import interesting JDM weird cars, we have a US-only xB. It’s bloody awful, and shouldn’t sell. Toyota gets what it deserves.
I bought a 2005 xB this summer. It does almost everything my beloved 84 Volvo Diesel wagon does – it actually gets better mileage in town. I really appreciate my xB, but I’ll never love it the way I do my Volvo.
Of all the Japanese ‘Kei’ cars out there, this one pictured has to be THE ugliest. Check out some of the models that Suzuki makes for the Japanese market and you’ll see some much nicer looking vehicles.
Edward, are you sure that’s not a picture of a Divco?
#4 looks like a distorted Mini Cooper.
That said, I think 1, 3, and 4 could work, but there needs to be a sporty looking coupe too. The current crop of Scions is just sad.
I like that fridge in stainless steel. Does it come with an ice dispenser?
BTW I told them to keep the MINI away from the Yaris when it’s in heat but nooooo they had to let them run off into the woods together.
Isn’t #4 similar to the xA? I like #2, though I wouldn’t expect it would sell well. They all look cheap and flimsy.
Bring them on!
“We already have many imported JDM vehicles on the road”
Only if they are RHD.
Most Americans now are fat and can barely move. These vehicles are perfect for them, and I watched how many of those people bought Elements and XB’s when they came out. Not young hip people like you might think.
All of these, plus the Copen and possibly the HiJet in lieu of the trucklet above.
Those cars is as cool as can be. Especially that green one. And they are not ugly, they just take the appliance factor to the extreme, in a humorous way. For those that sees them as ugly, I feel like I’m the only one that get the inside joke. If you don’t get it, it’s not for you.
Well, I guess I can’t bitch about the lack of headroom in this fish tank.
3 and 4 are interesting in an ironic, alt.listserv sort of way, but that’s about it.
I’m with Ingvar, the green one, with a little meaner front end, i could see that up and down the California freeways. I like it
The first black one and the pick-up.
Also, the FT-86 should be branded a Scion, come in just under $20K base, and they should kill the tC and Celica both.
The other two are just really a bit too ungainly looking. Really they just need to restore the original cube xB and update that a bit.
These vehicles look so classy and restrained when compared to BWM 5GT and X6.
I’m amazed at how quickly Scion has lost their way in 5 short years. The bloated Gen 2 xB is representative of the mess.
Interestingly, they never did get the demographic right for Scion, since they found that the “young, hip” buyers were most often above 40.
@ eggsalad: Actually, the xB2 is a Corolla Rumion with LHD, and uglier front clip, and a thirstier engine (the JDM model comes with the decent 1ZZ 1.8).
I, on the other hand like the “Basket” pickup/econobox-4Runner thing a lot. I rather like the idea of wacky Daihatsus sold as Scions — that’s basically why the xB1 was such a [completely polarizing] hit.
“Interestingly, they never did get the demographic right for Scion, since they found that the “young, hip” buyers were most often above 40.”
The problem with tailoring a car to a certain demographic is that the powers at be often completely misunderstands what the demographic really wants.
Say that BMW is the ultimate goal for successful people. If you are a professional, that is the car for you. Being an expensive car, almost its entire raison d’être is to be unobtainable except for the very few, and for those, it becomes a symbol of success.
So, what do young people want? Frugal, practical and quirky? No, young people wants BMW:s as much as old people, the problem is that young people can’t afford one. So, what do they buy? They buy old BMW:s. Or whatever brand is the car to have for the moment. But they would hardly glance at a Scion XB unless they are deep into japanese anime fandom.
In the other end, we have old people that wants to be seen as young, or at least “hip” and in the know. They crave for anything youth culture-like. Those people buy the Scion XB and Honda Element for the surfer-appeal, they want to be seen as sporty and out-going, and perhaps a tad “chic”.
And then there are all those people that really don’t give a shit, but wants a practical anti-car to make an (anti) statement and fill their need in between. Anti-fashionistas with a keen eye for real quality, Those that have Birkenstocks on their feet at work. Those that are out to buy a Volvo or Subaru, but needs something smaller.
So, tailoring the Scions to young people must have been the biggest marketing mistake since the Edsels missed their demographic spot. However, there are a Japanese sub-culture amongst young people that roam around in highly tuned Toyota BB:s, and think they are as cool as can be. But, first, it’s a sub-culture, and secondly, they are practically insane. I mean, they favor the Chevrolet Astro Van as a cult car among the crowd.
@Ingvar: No one ever said that anything in Japan makes sense. Somehow, they build good cars, but haven’t cracked forks, so I wouldn’t trust that culture to make logical decisions. So, Chevy Astro-worship it is!
Interestingly, they never did get the demographic right for Scion, since they found that the “young, hip” buyers were most often above 40.
The average age of a Scion buyer is 36, one of the lowest in the industry. So in that regard, Toyota has been pretty successful.
However, there are a fair number of oldsters mixed into that figure. As much as it may try, a company can’t ultimately choose its customers. It’s fashionable to be youthful, not elderly.
tailoring the Scions to young people must have been the biggest marketing mistake since the Edsels missed their demographic spot.
Not really a mistake, when you consider that the average age does skew low, and that Toyota got to learn about the market for made-to-order, no-haggle sales to young US buyers.
It hasn’t been a raving success, but it doesn’t have to be. A lot of this has been a matter of gathering market intelligence through an existing sales channel. (Scion is not a completely separate brand, but a sub-brand sold at Toyota dealers.) It hasn’t been just an exercise in reaching that demographic, but also in learning whether they can be sold to differently from their parents.
As it turns out, the old school haggle-like-crazy, buy-on-impulse model of car shopping that is common in the US isn’t probably going to go away anytime soon. Europeans and the Japanese might be fine with doing things differently, but it won’t work here.
Oh shi&. What a silly looking bread truck!
#3 – Finally a pick up that looks like it could be loaded and unloaded by someone less than 8 feet tall.
@Robert Schwartz:
Yes, I’m talking about RHD cars. See http://www.japanoid.com/
CyCarConsulting: Most Americans now are fat and can barely move. These vehicles are perfect for them […]
I always thought you couldn’t put a round person in a square car.
(Sorry, bad joke)
I think they’re interesting, but I am not sure I’d buy. #4 is reminiscent of a Mini, and #2 could almost be a respin of the Mini Moke.
No.2 (the green ute) could really work here if it could be made sturdy enough. It is an obvious refresh of the Citroen Mehari, but that is probably only a good thing as it gives it retro credence. It would pick up (get it?) where the Samurai and RAV4 2-door left off and be a cool/hippie Jeep alternative, but not pretend to climb mountains and ford rivers, so more like the VW Thing was. And who can resist a sensible little drop-top?
http://www.citroenet.org.uk/foreign/usa/us-39.html
Scion was just as bad an idea as Saturn was. Toyota identified that fact that their buyer demographic was trending older. So far so good, they identified a long term strategic marketing problem.
But, they got the answer wrong. The better answer would have been some youth focused products, not a lame new nameplate inside “select” Toyota dealers. Fine, bring over the original Xa, Xb, etc. and put a youth oriented marketing campaign behind them. But, don’t disrespect the highly valuable Toyota brand name which was built up over decades.
The original Ford Mustang did just fine bringing in younger and young-at-heart customers even though is was sold alongside Ford Galaxies and F150s. No need for a new nameplate.
My kingdom for a Copen.
Lose the back seat.
Make it about two feet taller.
Add folding rear door and hand rails.
Perfect! ;)
Said it before and I’ll say it again:
“The original Scion goal was all about transparency and reducing time to purchase cars and vehicle personalization,” Jim Lenz said. “And none of that has changed.”
I don’t think this is a rationalization; I recall hearing this when they launched the brand and admiring it as a brilliant business insight. At a time when every critic and consumer is moaning about the choke-hold the franchised dealer system has on decent customer service, Toyota is repeating the behind-the-scenes part of the Lexus formula: you can’t make your current brand’s dealers toe the line to any great degree, but if you create a new brand, you can rewrite the maker-dealer relationship from a clean sheet of paper. And so they have.
What’s more, this time they’ve further refined their profitability model by centralizing all the accessories that used to be dealer-installed. This not only hogs all the dealer-installed options loot for Corporate, it also delivers a legitimate consumer benefit by offering a greater range of choices.
The youth market is the right market for the Scion structural experiment for two simple reasons, neither of which has anything to do with “coolness”: They’re less brand loyal and thus easier to attract to an unknown brand, and they’re more into personalizing with accessories.
Toyota has a lot more to gain than to lose with the Scion experiment, and I applaud them for trying it. Now if they can just stock that corner of the showroom behind the beverage cooler with cars that aren’t bloated dog crap, they’ll really be onto something again.
Reminds me when I was 5 and my mom gave me a box the new 20 inch color tv came in. I cut out a windshield and side windows. I drew on some head lights and put the box over my head and ran all over the back yard thinking this it was great for a bit. I am sure I ran into a tree or stepped in dog shit and it was over 20 minutes later. To me the novelty of the boxes above may wear a little longer but cost a lot more than that card board box and probably have worse blind spots. In many ways I have grown up since I was 5 and wearing a box over my head again ain’t gonna happen.
Seriously if anyone on the sex registry for pedophilia buys one of these, it should be grounds to throw them back in the slammer as a violation of their parole.
It’s the car equivalent to wearing a Hello Kitty shirt.
#1 for old guys who think it would make them look like young hipsters.
#2 for old guys who drive rusty Mazda B2000s and think it would make them look like young hipsters.
#3 for youngsters who fancy life inside a Japanese cartoon.
#4 should be pushed into a river.
#1 Toyota added those extra low square headlights so the State patrol can find me after the Freightliner has run over my Scion on I-80.
#2 for Shriners who can’t find parts for their 850 fiat spyders anymore.
#3 It was nice of Toyota to design an Armoured car big enough for what’s left in the US Treasury.
#4 For those who can only afford the roofline of a Mini.
HAHA OHHH MAN YOU GUYS WITH YOUR MOVING BOX AND BREAD TRUCK AND FRIDGE COMMENTS ARE SOOOO FUNNY, or would be if those jokes hadn’t been making the rounds since 2004. Got any zingers about chickens crossing roads?
Any of the four of them would be better than the current crop. And I say that as an example of the original formula working: I was 23 when I bought my xB (waited 6 weeks for it) and I had only bought GM trucks until then. I wanted something that I could afford, that wouldn’t break after 36 months, and that would alienate Baby Boomers. Enter the Gen 1 xB – check, check and check!
As previously indicated, average buying age for Scion was 36. And that’s not even taking into account the slew of 80-year-olds I see in first-gen boxes…so somewhere there must be an entire state of 20-somethings with Scions. I suspect California.
The original formula was geared toward young people but also appealed to thrifty and old people. The new formula is geared apparently at bitter focus-group participants (who all probably have Camries at home), and appeals to nobody. FIX PLZ.
What about the Gen 2 bB? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toyota_bB That’s baffling, ugly, small and economical…should be a hit!
I think these cars were designed by R2-D2 during a bad acid trip.