Monday, August 30, 2010

Toyota unveils the all-new 2011 Scion tC

Las Vegas Nevada August 27, 2010

Two for the Road was invited to a press preview and test drive of the new Scion tC with other journalists from across the country and while the car itself is good news, one of the more interesting things we found was the marketing campaign planned by Toyota.

We listened as Dawn Ahmed, Corporate Manager of Scion who talked to us about the tC being a very strong performer for the Brand, but that it was time to up the ante with an all new car that would give both owners and new customers to the Brand exactly what they’ve been looking for.

She talked about how Scion has appealed to a new generation of automotive enthusiasts, allowing Toyota to use the model as an innovation lab to try new products and ways of building relationships with owners. It apparently has succeeded, as they’ve sold over 800,000 Scions with over 70% as first time buyers of the Toyota brand. Scion also boasts being the most ethnically diverse non-luxury brand in the industry.

Part of that success, according to Ahmed, is that Scion is a non-traditional underground brand that is a big supporter of up-and-coming artists. Scion hosts over 1500 events a year including Scion Space, a permanent installation in LA. They also recently hosted 2500 Scion owners and three of their friends as guests at Knott’s Berry Farm. Just a sample of the marketing campaign they’ve initiated.

Designed by Calty in California, the new tC boasts a more edgy style that is a bit more macho than its predecessor. It shares some design elements from the FUSE concept car that debuted at 2007 New Your auto show. The stance is aggressive and confident and under the hood there’s a bigger 2.5 liter engine putting out more horsepower and torque than the current model. There are two transmissions, a six-speed automatic and a six-speed manual and surprisingly to us, they both have a rating of 23/31 mpg.

There will naturally be tuners that want to dress up their Scion and for them Scion offers some pretty nice accessories including a rear spoiler, illuminated door sills, carbon fiber B-pillars and a nifty interior lighting kit and very cool body graphics. On the performance side TRD performance parts include 19-inch wheels, a big-brake kit, sway bars, a short throw shifter and an upgraded exhaust system.

We didn’t get a lot of wheel time but the tC was fun to drive through the twisties during our run thru Red Rock Canyon National Park and I’ll look forward to spending a week in the car when it comes to Phoenix