Scion youth brand is not in danger of being shut down, says Akio Toyoda
By Andrew, 13 Jan, 2011. 0 Comments
2011 Scion tC
Even when sales of Toyota’s Scion brand had been lackluster, there’s no danger of it being shut down, according to Toyota Motor President Akio Toyoda. This was confirmed during an interview at the 2011 Detroit Auto Show. Last year, Scion's U.S. sales fell by 21% to 45,678 units. In 2007, Scion sold 130,181 cars in the U.S. market, and in 2006, it sold a record 173,024 units.
Since Scion has a target demographic of younger than 30 years old, the brand suffered a lot during the recession as the young buyers, many of whom were unemployed, were unable to get car loans.
Toyoda said that Scion's position within the Toyota family is important as it is known to be the developer of fun-to-drive vehicles that feature “exhilaration and excitement.”
Being one of Toyota’s test-drivers, Toyoda said that he is preoccupied with vehicles that offer “great emotional excitement,” which is what Scion brings. [via autonews - sub. required]
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