The live events, the raves, the parties, the social media blitz -- Tweets and all -- seems to have missed the mark. Scion, Toyota's so-called youth brand, has stumbled out of the gate after a summer of hype.
It's hard to imagine that a wired Generation Y has missed the message, but the numbers don't lie. Scion Canada's October sales added up to 247 vehicles, putting one-year sales on track for fewer than 3,000. Scion Canada is aiming for 8,000-10,000 a year in sales. Scion has some catching up to do.
Or perhaps not. Perhaps it has always been a mistake for Toyota to believe it could manufacture younger buyers by creating a brand aimed specifically at them. Perhaps Gen Y sees Scion as a contrived, perhaps even cynical marketing scheme and being the tough consumers Toyota knows them to be, Gen Y consumers are refusing to take the bait.
The numbers suggest so. After more than eight years on the market in the U.S., sales are beyond a disaster and have now ventured into the land of utterly humiliating. Through the end of October, Scion's U.S. sales were down 26 per cent for a 10-month U.S. total of 37,888.
Those dismal returns come on the heels of Scion's 49 per cent sales decline in 2009. Sure, sure, 2009 was admittedly a disastrous, recession-wracked year for selling new cars. But the downward sales spiral pre-dates 2009.
In 2006 Scion sold 173,017 vehicles. That dropped to 113,848 in 2008. By last year, only 57,775 people bought a Scion. Yikes! Can zero be very far off?
Scion's problem seems pretty simple, at least in the U.S. Potential buyers there were and remain largely unemployed or at the very least fearful of becoming so. Baby Boomer-age parents know on both sides of the border know all too well what's going on with Gen Y: it's moving back into basement.
Gen Y has gone underground, though in the warm, comfy confines of the traditional family home. There, they are surfing the Web, playing video games, fixing up their Facebook page, chatting and Tweeting and awaiting an economic uptick that in the U.S. has yet to materialize in any significant way. Ask President Obama about the economy and how it's whacked the Democrats, just in case you're wondering. It's whacking Scion's target buyers, too.
Now Scion officials will tell you that their three-car lineup in 2009 was aged and stale and that's why buyers have been ignoring them for years. For 2010, things will be better, is how the spinning goes.
You see, Scion now has an all-new tC coupe and freshened versions of the boxy, Corolla-based xB and the Yaris-based xD. Toyota Canada managing director Stephen Beatty says the timing of Scion's launch in Canada was largely dictated by the timing of Scion's product updates for 2010. Scion's future is bright.
And to be fair, Scion's cars are pretty good and pretty well equipped. In fact, Scions are loaded. Moreover, the two four-door hatchbacks boast funky designs (the xB, in particular, has the shape of a shipping crate) and the tC hatchback/coupe is rated at 180 horsepower with a price tag less than $21,000.
The Scions are good enough to have at least some of us believe they could catch on. But not if the marketing is aimed strictly at Gen Y. Gen Y needs a job.
The smart money is betting Scion will end its stubborn insistence on a narrow customer definition – on limiting the pitch and how the pitch is delivered strictly to people 35 and younger. There is no logical reason why Boomers and their parents and grandparents should not be enticed to join Scion Nation www.scionnation.ca.
And here's something else, while we're at it. By launching Scion in the first place, Toyota tacitly admitted that its own core Toyota brand lacks something – or many things. But it's beyond me why Toyota would ever concede that its image with the under-35 crowd has become stodgy and tired and uninteresting. Big mistake.
The truth is, Toyota has never needed Scion's "radical new business model" to reach impatient buyers with short attention spans and an ingrained demand instant gratification. Everyone with a job and family commitment is time-starved and impatient as a result.
What Toyota needs is the same thing every car company needs: great cars that people want to own, sold in the simplest way possible. Put all that in place and everything offers will find buyers.
THE SCION CARS
2011 Scion tC
Base price: $20,850
What is it? A sporty coupe/hatchback with plenty of horsepower (180), a tight suspension and aggressive gearing. In the U.S., the median Scion tC buyer is only 26 years old. So above all, the tC is the Scion model aimed at the youngest buyers of Toyota's youth brand. The long list of standard features is nothing short of astounding. And build quality seems excellent.
Key rivals: The most obvious is the Honda Civic Si. Others might include the Kia Forte Koup, Mazda3, Volkswagen Golf and Mini Cooper.
2011 SCION xB
Base price: $18,270
What is it? A boxy wagon/van based on the mechanical architecture of the Toyota Corolla and Matrix. The idea behind the design is to attract buyers who want utility and space. In some ways, like the Nissan Cube, it is the anti-car. The xB is a thoroughly practical, completely comfortable wagon.
Key rivals: The Volkswagen Golf wagon, Kia Soul and the Nissan Cube are the obvious choices.
2011 Scion xD
Base price: $17,200
What is it? Here we have the bargain Scion four-door hatchback. This one is based on the Toyota Yaris architecture. But the styling – wheel flares, clean sheetmetal surfaces and sharp lines from stem to stern – give it a thoroughly un-Yaris-like look. This is a pretty quick, pretty nicely equipped little urban commuter and my prove to be the sleeper in the Scion Canada lineup.
Key rivals: The Kia Rio 5 comes to mind, as do the Ford Fiesta, Nissan Versa, Honda Fit and, yes, the Toyota Yaris.
