<center>Scion and the Youth Market
Jerry Flint, The Car Connection</center>
Toyota is a pretty smart company but I think they've made a mistake: Scion. That's the new division selling cars aimed particularly at young people, youth, the "yoots" as we say in New York

I don't think there's a youth market for new cars. History is on my side. Sure, young people want cars, love cars, own cars. Cars mean freedom. The big day of their lives is when they get their driving license. But they don't have the money for new cars and so they buy used cars. That's been true forever. Why should it change?

Remember Mitsubishi? They went after the same market it seems to me. The Mitsubishi angle was to give them the cars without insisting that they pay for them. Worked for a while. Great sales figures but they weren't sales. The kids never paid. I think Mitsubishi lost about $1 billion and went into the toilet.

Toyota isn't that dumb. I think.

Outreach program

This isn't Toyota 's first youth effort. Remember the Echo, the small low-end car that came out in 1999? Unlike Scion, which is sold separately - usually in the same showroom but set apart - the Echo was part of the Toyota brand. But there was a special group of marketers or thinkers tied to the youth effort, Genesis, I think was the name for the group.

The Echo sold 49,000 cars in 2000 and has been sinking since, down to 26,000 last year and only 2000 in five months this year. Bye bye, Echo. Going, going, gone. And the Genesis group is gone, too.

We should remember a few things about young people.

They have lots of things to buy and not all that money. They are starting out in life. They need clothes, computers, apartments, dates, skin cream. They are a good market for $90 jeans but not so good for $15,000 cars.

They have very expensive tastes. They like Porsches and Ferraris and Hummers. I imagine that every one of Scion's potential customers would love to own a new Mustang convertible. But they don't have the money.

Toyota talks about 100,000 sales or so for Scion - there are three models now. Remember that that Echo sold 49,000 with one model, without going to the trouble of setting up a separate operation. So Scion has three models and a separate organization and they'll sell 50,000 more cars than Echo? This doesn't seem very impressive to me.

And the lineup…

Before I go on to knock the product, let me say that they are Toyota-built, and that means solid quality. Now about that product:

There's the xB, the box. It's slow (105 horsepower), ugly, and no all-wheel drive. Everything we hear about young people is they want great-looking cars, fast cars, and off-road capability.

Next is the xA, a four-door sedan, not much different from the econobox four-door sedans from Korea or other Asians, also slow and no all-wheel drive.

Last, the just-out tC, a small coupe, faster (160 horsepower), about the length of a Honda Civic coupe. But how many buyers are there for a small coupe?

Here's a secret. The product isn't that important for Scion. The little Echo was a sweet little car and it's being buried now. What counts with Scion is the marketing.

I idea is that the promotion is non-traditional and aimed at the youngsters. While I am exaggerating, I get the idea that the main method of advertising will be tattooing the word Scion on the lips of young men and women. Maybe they'll be cotton panties with the word Scion on the back (Remember "Bloomies"?) But even if I am exaggerating, that's the idea. Being seen at a 'rave' is more important than being seen at an auto show (A 'rave' is sort of a pop-up party with lots of drugs).

Final answers

Why is Toyota creating Scion?

The carmaker fears that most of its customers are older. It doesn't have the allegiance of the "yoots" and wants to sign them up early. Sure they are older. It's older people that have the money to buy new vehicles. Now in Japan this may be a different because the Japanese don't have the used-car market we have. They make it very expensive to own an older car so they export their used cars. We keep ours at home.

Given a choice between a used Explorer and a new Scion, I say the kid here goes to the used Ford.

Toyota reports that Scion sales are pretty good, 6000 in May and they haven't been national, just sold in 24 states, and the coupe just came out. I don't pay too much attention to those early figures. Remember, the Echo sold 49,000 cars in year 2000 and just 398 in May. Right. Only 398 Echoes. My prediction: Scion will have its 100,000 sales next year and it's downhill from there. Goodbye Genesis. Hello exodus.

Toyota is still a great company, of course, running wild in the American market with its cars and a growling fleet of pickups, minivans, and sport-utes.

Personally, I don't think there's much a company can do to attract the youth market, except continue to build great cars and trucks that they aspire to own. Next fall's new Mustang will really attract the kids.

Maybe a little more expressive design would help with the young people. Still, as long as Toyota continues to build fine quality vehicles, they needn't panic.

 

What in the heck kind of kids is this guy talking to?

Also, why doesn't he note how the Scion line is VASTLY better than the Echo in appearance, customization, sound system, etc.? I'm getting an xA myself when I'm employed again. Gonna customize that biatch out, and it'll be phat-up. My local Scion dealer is out of brochures, and has been selling two or three a week, and I'm in the fairly small market of Charleston, South Carolina. They expect their sales numbers to go up even further with the tC. The author forgets that while these kids might not have the money for these cars, mummy and daddy are usually buying these entry-level cars for their kids, and the Scion is a beautiful blend of practicality (38 highway/31 city I think) and flair for the 16-25 segment.

It's certainly a heck of a lot better than the Aveo or any other alternatives.

 

Whoever thinks there is an actual "youth" market is trying to draw blood from a stone.

I would say 99% of the people I know under 22 did not buy a new car. We are busy paying insurance, tuition, etc. With the huge tuition I was paying and no time for a part-time job, I was happy enough to be tooling around in a beat-up Cavalier.

This supposed "youth" market is the used car lot... obviously the exception is if your parents bankroll you.

 

I live in a small town and have seen two Scion boxes--both driven by older women, and one Scion tC. I talked to the owner--he loved the car and its performance. He's retired.

I don't know how much of a youth market there is for cars, except for used ones, but I'll bet that Scion does well. Good value for basic transportaion and the Toyota quality will bring buyers of all ages into the stores. Not everybody is into performance cars, or spending a lot of money on them.

What's interesting to me is how many young people drive newer Mustang GT's. Every time someone posts a thread on stangnet about how old everyone is, I see an amazing number of teens and people in their early 20's. Somehow thet can afford it.

Then again, I bought my first new car, a 1970 Camaro SS350, when I was 22. It stickered at just over 4 grand and cost me $114 a month. I was in the Marines in those days and thought that was a lot of money. Today's payments aren't all that bad when you factor in inflation.

Again, I think Scion will be a success.

 

Scion? Dear god no.

Lets see. I can dump 15g's on that. Or I can buy a 92 Z28, put in 1500 worth of parts, add in this sweet reskinning and new interior, and still be at about 15g's? http://euroworksltd.com/EvoluzioneII...es/Default.htm

tough choice.

 

And you'll have a 14 year old car with no warranty. People actually care about such things like warranties and reliabilty. That's why they buy Toyotas.

 

In Japan, the Toyota versions of the Scions here in the state are what the Beetle was to Americans in the 60s and 70s. Lots of youngens(about 16-24 )are buying the cars and modding them.

Toyota hopes that the same craze will translate to the States. It might work on the West Coast, as the import scene is pretty entrenched there. Here in the Midwest, it still belongs to mostly Stangs and Camaros...

For $16K, I could a well-loaded tC or I could get a low end (still nicely equipped) Mustang V6...with about 100 more hp and a lot more looks(that's a pun)

Will it work? Only time will tell...

 

When I first saw the Scion's on tv I thought they were pretty ugly, then I started seeing them on the road and I still think they're ugly. A friend of mine's mom has an xB and I've been over to his house and seen it up close, it looks like a cheap rectangular box with tiny tires, the interior was very spacious can't say it was bad just bland.

I guess I would be in the "youth market" since I'm turning 17 next month and am already driving, but none of my friends like the look of the Scion's or the Honda Element for that matter.

My school is kind of known for having a lot of rich kids which is true for some people though a lot are just average teens. Anyway, my point is if you look around our parking lot during a regular school day you'll see just about anything.

From a few people with new BMW's and some older Benz's, to pick-up's with lift kits and big tires,SUV's, cavaliers and other smaller cars, sports cars like the 3000gt and Dodge Stealth, then of course the ricer's.

Every year they do different survey's for favorite's. The Favorite car this year by a large margin was the Mustang. I know of 10-12 people that drive mustangs in my school including me, which is more than any other type of car. All but 2 are Sn95's and several are brand new, including a silver GT coupe with bullits and my friend's '03 Mach 1.

Not a single person has a Scion at my school, there is one Element. There are a few Mazda 3's beginning to show up at school now though.

 

You mean 30 more horsepower, a stereo without mp3 capability, poorer fuel economy, MUCH costlier insurance (Mustang + Young Person = Racing as far as insurance companies are concerned), a horribly dated interior, a much less reliable engine, something that you see thousands of already, and the absence of near-luxury show car looks.

 

I like the scions for what they are. I would love one as a commuter car.

 

There's the xB, the box. It's slow (105 horsepower), ugly, and no all-wheel drive. Everything we hear about young people is they want great-looking cars, fast cars, and off-road capability.

Next is the xA, a four-door sedan, not much different from the econobox four-door sedans from Korea or other Asians, also slow and no all-wheel drive.

Last, the just-out tC, a small coupe, faster (160 horsepower), about the length of a Honda Civic coupe. But how many buyers are there for a small coupe?

I hate the Xa and Xb, mostly the Xb but I like the tC. I like most of the features it offers and unlike the "Boxes," it has something called "style."

 

I personally am disgusted by the Scions. Especially the box on wheels. I have seen a couple riding around my town, and it wasn't a young person drving, but rather a soccer mom.

And as for Scion's attempt to target the "youth market," there is no youth market. I am in high school, and I know of very few people that have the money or the parents to go out and waste $14-16 thousand on a car. The majority of high schoolers, and the rest of the youth market are going to be driving their parents' old beat up cars, or something they found in a used car parking lot for a couple grand. And most of the time it's something like a corrolla or minivan.

 

Just to play Devil's Advocate...

There is a youth market, like fvcrew said, his high school has some 'rich kids' and the HS I went to, several kids had M3s, S2000s, Corvettes, etc. There are just as many communities in which kids will get what the want from their parents as there are those who have to work for it...

My dad is thinking about getting my little sister a tC b/c it is a Toyota. He'll probably end up getting another Taurus instead though...

Oh, and KJ, I was talking about the 05 V6 not the SN95s...I know, I know, they're not out yet, but still I figure in about a year, you'll find about the same numbers of tCs and 05s on the street(of course, we don't know the prices of the 05s yet, so my argument is still completely flawed...)

 

Wish I was part of those communities. Oh well, but I'm plenty happy with my car

 

Thanks FrankBullitt05. I'm glad my paragraph of rambling was understood and interpreted. You pretty much wrote what I was thinking.

This past year when a friend of mine turned 16 his parents gave him a choice between an RX-8 or an 03 Mach 1. He went with the Mach 1, but I couldn't imagine haven't a chance like that, I have an '82 5.0. Then there are people at my school who are 16, 17 & even 18 and still don't have a car. It's actually a good balance at my school.

 

When I was 16 (2000), I worked at Publix grocery store. This kid I worked with had the choice for his 18th birthday to get either a brand new 2001 Mustang GT or a 2000 PT Cruiser. Of course he went with the... NOPE... he went with a green Chrysler POS cruiser. I coulda punched him in the stomach.

 

Punch in the stomach?.......

You should've beaten the brakes off that idiot.

 

He might have been thinking more practically, can't fault him for that.

 

A practical 18 year old.

 

Bad Publicity:

She was drivin' in the box...