The Crank: Will Canadians take to stale Scions?

By John LeBlanc Let’s get something straight. Scion—Toyota’s so-called “youth brand”—is all about fashion. The three Scions being introduced to Canada this fall don’t offer much differences mechanically than the Toyotas they’re based on. After being introduced to U.S. customers in 2003, it took Toyota Canada took another five years, in 2008, to make up its mind to bring the Scion brand North of the 49th. Another two to go on sale. Despite the long wait, to say the least, Scion may have a few challenges in Canada… For starters, the main value proposition Scion cars had when they were launched south of the border, being “different”, no longer applies. Although creatively styled small cars may have been unique in 2003, going into the 2011 model year, Canadian new car buyers have a glut of small, and uniquely styled cars. Say, like the Kia Soul, Nissan Cube and Juke, Honda CR-Z, various Minis, and the forthcoming Fiat 500 Sport and Hyundai Tiburon replacement. In truth, for a fashion-conscious brand, Scion’s product lineup is looking a bit stale. There have been refreshes along the way. But the only really “new” product is a redesign of the tC coupe for 2011. Imagine Apple trying to sell Canadians a seven-year old iPod: Not. Very. Cool. So what about new Scions in the pipeline? Officially, the only really big news is the introduction next year of the iQ city car, essentially a 2+1 take on Mercedes-Benz’s Smart ForTwo. Not exactly the type of car that’s going to rack up huge sale numbers or profits. And there has been talk of extending the tC lineup with a five-door. But nothing confirmed. No new Scion sports cars. No new Scion hybrids. No new ScionEVs. But then, parent Toyota's been a bit busy lately, scrambling to shore up its struggling mainstream dealer network’s small car sales. The mothership has been talking about resuscitating Toyota’s small car offerings with a bunch of small, fun-to-drive cars, which would, naturally, go after Scion’s customer base. Another Scion Canadian challenge? It doesn’t help that with the plethora of recalls over the past year, the genie is out of the bottle on Toyota’s holier-than-thou quality perception. Amazingly, Americans figured Scion out long ago. U.S. Scion brand manager Jack Hollis told the Wall Street Journal during the tC launch event that American sales are nowhere where they should, or have been. Down South, the current, second-generation xB and xD are selling at one-third the level of their predecessors. So, please, tell me again: Why will Canadians lap up Scions? [Source: Wall Street Journal]

Comments