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Scion from Toyota
It is one of the most controversial new automotive product launches in many years with a radical new design approach and a new way of selling. Toyota announced last year that it will introduce a whole new brand aimed at a whole new market. Scion is a new line of vehicles planned to appeal to the next generation of new-car buyers. Two show-car concept vehicles, the bbX and ccX, were shown. Both are vehicles that offered a strong hint at the direction Scion will take with its new line of products. Next week, at the L.A. Auto Show, Toyota will unveil the first two production vehicles for its new marque, the xA and xB "For some time, Toyota’s genesis group has been carefully listening to, and studying ways, to connect with the net-generation reaching driving age and entering the car market," said Jim Press, Toyota’s executive vice president and COO. "It’s an important emerging consumer group that will total over 60 million potential customers by 2010. With Scion, Toyota is taking a major pro-active step to reach out and connect with them."
The Scion (pronounced SY-en) name is significant. Meaning descendant, or heir, the name Scion is designed to stand alone as a distinctive new line of products and a new way of doing business. Yet, it is also a name meant to convey a clear link to the Toyota-brand heritage. "Toyota’s formation of genesis in 1998 marked the beginning of a quest to connect with an emerging new buyer group in the marketplace," said Jim Lentz, vice president, Scion. "Scion will act as a complement to the Toyota-brand banner by targeting an important portion of this consumer group who actively seek out the newest trends in style and innovation." "Scion will target consumers who are well aware of, and may even covet, Toyota’s strong heritage of quality," added Lentz. "But they are also consumers who require unique product concepts that are high in personal expression that can be accessed and purchased on their own terms. Although this group represents only a slice of the net-gen as a whole, its influence is substantial and therefore, extremely important. So important, that we have dedicated an all-new line of products and services that will not only attract them, but will retain them." The Scion way of doing business will be defined by a philosophy that combines three essentials; style, versatility, and surprise. These three elements will be fundamental, not only to Scion products, but also to the Scion purchase process as well. Scion will be structured as a dealer-within-a-dealer. All Toyota dealers will be offered the opportunity to sell the Scion line. Scion products will be offered in a clearly dedicated environment. It will feature its own dedicated sales staff, but will share on-site service facilities with the Toyota brand. On-site inventories will be small. Dealers will draw from a shared inventory pool designed to ensure low-overhead costs while promoting just-in-time delivery on a regional basis. The Scion dealer environment will be low-key and buyer-friendly. It will feature stylish décor and a polished industrial feel. It will also include highly interactive surroundings aimed at individualizing and personalizing the shopping and purchase process. With an aim to create the promise and the reality of a truly customer-controlled atmosphere, the Scion dealer environment will allow shoppers to browse, investigate, research, or just discover Scion, entirely at their own pace. Sales people will offer assistance and guidance. However, at Scion, their role will be clearly defined as just one of the many resources available during the shopping and purchase process. The Internet will also be an important tool in this process. The Scion Web site will be highly interactive, targeted and constantly evolving. It will invite the user to stay and explore, rewarding those who take the time to experiment with surprising discoveries. Equally important, the Internet will act as a two-way conduit between buyer and seller. It will be designed as an important listening post, where customer feedback and suggestions will be closely monitored. As with the dealer environment and the sales process, the SCION product lineup will be kept simple. All vehicles will be offered as single, fully-equipped, mono-spec models. The SCION product lineup will reflect the style, versatility, and surprise that is the core of its business philosophy. They will be lifestyle products designed to connect on an emotional and practical level with an influential buyer base. SCION is expected to launch in June 2003 with two vehicles. One vehicle will be an adaptation of the bbX show car. It is based on a vehicle currently available in Japan called the "Black Box," a vehicle marketed to Japan’s youngest buyers as a melding of entertainment-art and basic transportation. The bbX is a multi-purpose concept that combines aggressive styling, expansive people and cargo-hauling capability, and a thoughtful approach to versatility. Each of the two SCION vehicles that will be available at launch will offer an array of standard equipment including air conditioning, power windows, door locks and mirrors, six-speaker Pioneer AM/FM/CD audio system, sport seats, and many more comfort and convenience features. Each of these vehicles will carry an MSRP considerably less than $18,000. Due to limited product volume initially, and the start-up logistics of regional inventory pooling, SCION will launch in California-only for the first eight months. Within 12 months of the initial launch, SCION will be available nationwide. This national availability will coincide with availability of a third model. Production volume for the first three products will be about 100,000 units, annually. You can visit the SCION Website at www.scion.com, to register for notification of SCION events and contests. Look out for further information on SCION over the next few months. If Toyota’s introduction of their Lexus brand is any example look out for a major change to this fascinating industry. |
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