The Scion brand is owned and operated by the Toyota Motor Corporation. Toyota founded Scion in 2003 with the objective of reaching younger, Generation Y consumers. Scion first previewed at the New York Auto Show in 2002 with two concept cars. In June 2003 the first two Scion vehicles, the xA and xB, were available in 105 California-based Toyota dealerships, later rolling out nationwide to 783 Toyota dealerships in June of 2004. That coincided with the launch of the Scion tC. By June 2008, 982 of 1,231 Toyota dealers were also Scion dealers and Scion had sold more than 600,000 cars.
Scion has definitely achieved Toyota's goal of reaching a younger customer--the brand has the youngest owner median age, 31, in the automotive industry. Scion markets aggressively to their youth market advertising in niche lifestyle and tuner magazines, as well as late-night cable TV. The company also uses street teams in urban locations to reach its target market and participates in virtual communities on the Internet such as Second Life and Gaia Online to create brand awareness. Scion also participates in motorsports, offering VIP treatment to Scion owners at select drag and drift racing events.
Headquarters
Torrance, California, U.S.
Website
http://www.scion.com
Today Scion's lineup consists of three small front-wheel drive cars, all available with either manual or automatic transmissions: the tC, the xB, and the xD. The tC, where tC stands for "Touring Coupe," is a compact two-door hatchback widely considered to be the successor to the Toyota Celica. The tC is a sporty car with lots of versatility and compares nicely to a Honda Civic Coupe, Mitsubishi Eclipse, or a Hyundai Tiburon, but at a lower base cost.
The xB is a four-door hatchback wagon with a boxy frame similar to a Honda Element, but smaller. Scion's xD replaced the xA for the 2008 model year. The xD is a four-door, compact hatchback that has a 60/40 split folding rear seat for flexible seating of up to five or, when folded, additional cargo space.
