(Cj)

Scion Studies Adding Small Pickup for Youthful Buyers

By Christie Schweinsberg
WardsAuto.com, Jan 15, 2010 9:00 AM

DETROIT – Toyota Motor Corp’s Scion youth brand is studying whether a compact pickup truck would fit the niche brand’s all-car lineup, Scion General Manager Jack Hollis tells Ward’s.

Trucks are “not off the table,” Hollis says in an interview at the 2010 North American International Auto Show here. “If I said, ‘off the table,’ I’d like to take that back.

“Toyota has such a strong heritage of doing a very good job with youth and with trucks, when you look at (the Toyota) Tacoma – I’m not trying to be too cocky, but we pretty much have owned that segment for a long time. We have to find a niche. I think there is room for it.”

Scion and Toyota officials previously have said they wanted to stay away from light trucks, fearing they were too reminiscent of what younger buyers’ parents drive.

But Hollis says done right, a true compact truck that is more recreation vehicle than utility hauler could hold appeal to Scion’s core audience of youthful, edgy, non-traditional consumers.

The compact pickup of today is much bigger than its predecessors, matching the capability and size of fullsize pickup trucks. Building a true compact pickup “is exactly where it is,” he says.

Making compact cars even more compact and adding value is what Scion does, Hollis adds. “How can we do that with truck? If you do that with truck, we certainly have to be open to it.”

Scion worries of infringement on Toyota Tacoma compact-pickup segment leader.

Ironically, a possible barrier is the Tacoma.

The compact-pickup segment leader smoked the nearest competition by a sizable volume in 2009, selling 111,824 units, while the one-time leading Ford Ranger sold 55,600.

The Tacoma has an overwhelmingly young-male customer base, Hollis notes. “We would (want) to add to our family,” he says, and not infringe on the Tacoma’s market positioning.

Scion displayed a concept truck at last year’s Specialty Equipment Marketers Assn. show in Las Vegas that was personalized and accessorized. The Brandon Leung xB truck was a roof-less version of the xB cross/utility vehicle with a bright green paint job and styling reminiscent of pickups from the 1940s and 1950s.

“It’s a really unique truck, but it’s a concept one of our owners decided to create for himself,” Hollis says

Toyota also showed a truck-like concept at the 2008 New York auto show, the Hako. However, it was more reminiscent of an xB, with no open bed.

Hollis emphasizes a pickup is only one idea being studied for Scion, and there currently are no concrete plans to introduce such a product.

While a truck may still be pipe dream, Scion has new product launching soon that should help it recover some volume after several recent lean years.

Scion sales in the U.S. plummeted 49.1% in 2009 to 57,961, one of the steepest drops of any brand last year, Ward’s data shows.

The youth brand is debuting a replacement model for its lineup at this year’s New York auto show, widely expected to be the next-generation tC sport coupe.

A fourth Scion model is due later this year and is reported to be the long-rumored iQ subcompact, which Toyota sells under its own brand in Europe.

cschweinsberg@wardsauto.com

PhilipMSPT

iTrader: (5)

The Tacoma is fine in the Toyota family (base price is $15.5k). It doesn't need inter-family competition from Scion.

I think the concept of an "urban" pick up truck is good, but if Toyota plays it, they need to discontinue the Tacoma. And that wouldn't be a good move.

It would be better to market the Tacoma into something that is fun and youthful. And currently, there is nothing out there that markets the Tacoma as fun nor youthful.

UberNoob

i agree with you there phil

make the tacoma a bit more youthful

doesnt need to be overly youthful with a scion brand for it to sell

not that there is anything wrong with the tacoma once you give Arctic Truck a go at it
lol

PhilipMSPT

iTrader: (5)

The one thing about that Tacoma is its various cab, bed, drive, and engine variants.

The Tacoma starts at $16k, but can crawl up to $30k as a V6 AWD X-Runner Double cab long-bed model.

If Scion wants to create a $16-20k pick-up, the Tacoma needs to stop offering the 4-cylinder engines. Give Scion the FWD 4-banger solely.

(Cj)

I'm thinking that the future Scion pickup would be unibody like the A-Bat concept (ie urban pickup). So it would only be for light-duty task like shopping, versus the Tacoma which can legitimately tow and offroad.

-J-P-L-

I have to disagree. It would be stupid to change what the Tacoma is or drop it all together when it is by for the most successful small truck. I think Scion could have a model so distinct that it wouldn't take away current Tacoma buyers. The main thing, as the article touches upon, is size. Today's Tacoma is much bigger than the truly compact trucks from back in the day. Really, today's "compact's" are mid-sizes. Scion would be a great opportunity to market a true small pickup with distinct Scion styling. Think no extended cab, 6-foot bed, and lower to the ground or extended cab w/4 foot bed. Point is, a Tacoma and a Scion truck could easily be so different that they wouldn't be cross shopped at all.

Just look at how small the Tacoma used to be. Now imagine a Scion truck as small of smaller.

LexFather

I can see what you are saying. To me there seems to be some confusion with Toyota on what the hell to do with Scion.

Yeah the Tacoma and the whole segment got huge.

Funny but the designer of that vehicle was in the thread about it on VWVortex when it debuted....he was real nice and didn't get defensive when told by some it was horrid.

-J-P-L-

I think the A-bat concept would be a good direction but with a changed front end, smaller, and lower. And do it for under $20K.

(Cj)

The A-Bat's design is perfect for a Scion because it's so quirky looking lol. But I think what's more likely is an "open back" xB. That would be a fast cheap new product for Scion and unique enough to generate some showroom traffic.

pvmike1

^ God, that looks so good.

I'm all for a small pickup, like Yaris! has mentioned. I'd consider buying one as a utility vehicle.

tmf2004

iTrader: (15)

Arctic truck is spot on..