02.08.07
Well, the new Scions are here…
Scion (a marque of Toyota) ended production of two of their models, the xA and the xB (I have one of each) in December of 2006.
Today, 08FEB2007, they brought forth the two new models that will be “replacing” them, the xD and the, uh, “xB.”
My xB and xA are the 28th and 29th vehicles I’ve owned, and the xB is the first one in a long time that genuinely brings a smile to my face when I see it.
To just give the briefest of overviews, the Scion xB is a US version of the Toyota bB Urban Utility Vehicle (UUV) or Tokyo City Car that has been sold there for many years. It is an odd, boxy little vehicle that is ideal for the urban commando, going from place to place in their normal life.
Tiny on the outside, massive amounts of space on the inside, simple but sophisticated, reliable, economical – the ideal car to tuck into the cracks and crevices of city life, always ready to carry five friends, the luggage to the airport, one’s new large-screen TV set, or simply pick up the groceries. A friendly, unabashedly square little box on wheels.
Here’s mine, Vanilla:
The “replacement” for my 2005 Scion xB is, Ta-Da! the 2008 Scion xB, just introduced to the media today (I saw it in Miami in the middle of December)…
The new Scion xB is longer, wider, has a lower roofline, has a MUCH larger engine, and is no longer really a cute, economical “City Car.”
(TOP: 2005 Scion xB, BOTTOM: 2008 Scion xB)
Here are a few responses I wrote at automotive enthusiast sites in response to ongoing discussions of “The Replacements.”
Another forum member posted:
“I think a lot people are missing the point.
The new vehicles are not being designed for current owners. You’ve already bought one, you’re in the family already. The new vehicles are being designed to appeal to people who have different tastes to you. Of course they’re going to look different!
The bottom line is that Scion was intended to bring new people into the Toyota family. By markedly changing the body styles every three years, you are maximising the market you are reaching out to.”
While I understand and at least partly agree with what you are saying, I have a basic problem with it, too…
The xB2 will be bought by a different group of people – those wanting a “longer, lower, wider, more power” vehicle with more mainstream styling. The Scion tC station wagon people.
Those who enjoyed the very strict “form follows function” cubical City Car (Scion xB Classic) don’t necessarily want a foot longer, 4-6 inches wider, 3 inches lower, bigger engined, curvey and stylish station wagon/van/mom-car.
BUT, while Scion is expanding it’s “Introduction to Toyota” market to a new segment, they have made an error, IMHO, in leaving those City Car/UUV people out in the cold: There is NO model in the Scion or Toyota lines in the United States that is at ALL a reasonable step to take when we retire our xB Classics. None.
The City Car or UUV was a bold idea to introduce into the US market, and for a number of reasons it took root and sold MUCH better than anyone at Toyota or Scion ever expected. It fired the imagination by being such an honest and unapologetically “square” car. 🙂
Now that they have introduced that idea to the market, they have totally, absolutely and completely abandoned that niche. There is no vehicle in that segment, now that they have discontinued the xB Classic. This is a perfect opportunity for another manufacturer to import an established City Car into the US. (There are a number of them in other markets.)
If Scion felt the need to ‘expand’ their appeal to a new segment, Scion/Toyota needed to look at the new segment they created in this country, and plan for replacements for the xB Classics that WILL over the years need to be retired. Those folks will be looking for a replacement, and there is nothing, absolutely nothing, left in that segment in this country.
I’ll be keeping my little urban box until it’s wheels fall off, I can only hope that when I need it, there will be a replacement. Right now, there is NOT. Nope!
One additional comment about Scion/Toyota abandoning the current xB Classic owners with no replacement vehicle – nothing else on the US market from ANY manufacturer to replace the “form follows function” City Car. The xB Classic was the only vehicle in that niche here (many others on a world-wide basis, but not here), and now there are none.
ANYONE anywhere near the cutting edge of any business KNOWS that retaining customers is much more productive and much less costly than beating the brush for new ones.
Scion was intended to be the “starter brand” for the Toyota family: Get people hooked on the quality and reliability of the Toyota family of cars and they would very likely look there first for their next vehicle.
The plans made public were to have a logical pathway, one car to the next, one brand to the next. Start with a Scion, move to the Toyota, graduate to the Lexus as one moved through life.
Scion’s first models were for the most part a very good starting point, and the model most identified with the Scion brand was that funny little box, the owners of which were nearly fanatical.
Not only was the box an unusual style to see in the US, where so many models look like half-melted bars of soap, it created a market for the Urban Utility Vehicle, the “Tokyo City Car.”
In many parts of the world, compact, space efficient, simple but sophisticated, reliable cars are recognized as the ideal urban vehicle. Not 8,000 pound SUVs or 3/4 ton pickups, or 20 foot long luxury cars, but tiny vehicles with massive interior space – the “tardis” of automobile design.
Anyway, Scion introduced America to the idea of the perfect city car: The Scion xB Classic.
The logical thing to do, now that there was a fanatical following in that niche market, was to expand the market, offer an updated version of that class vehicle in the Scion line – or even in the Toyota line – to give people a place to call ‘home’ when it was time for a new vehicle. If the ‘replacement’ vehicle in that niche was a Toyota, it would be a logical stepping stone for Scion customers to move up to the ‘next level’ of the plan.
Instead, what Scion/Toyota has done is to introduce America to the idea of the City Car, to create a quite viable market for that class of vehicle, to build a strong, vehicle aware body of involved owners, then discontinued not only the model, but the entire class of vehicle in the United States.
Scion/Toyota/Lexus should have established a path for their customers – a reasonable, logical, obvious, step-by-step path to follow for their replacement/upgrade vehicles.
Many of the Scion folk probably plan on keeping their cars for two or three years, then moving on to a new one. If Scion/Toyota/Lexus doesn’t have that next vehicle in their line-up, there is a good chance Toyota could lose that hard-won customer to another manufacturer who does.
Now would be an ideal time for Nissan to bring in their Cube, and for other manufacturers to look at the idea of a City Car for the US. Another space-efficient box on wheels.
It’s not that I’m disappointed with the xB2 – it’s a nice vehicle and I’m sure it will do well, even if it ISN’T a replacement for the xB Classic.
What I’m disappointed with is the planning folks at Scion and Toyota not offering ANY path to ANY vehicle when someone who needs/loves/enjoys/owns the Scion xB City Car needs a new one.
We’ve been abandoned. That is NOT a good feeling to leave one’s customers with…
The xB2 is a well designed answer to the vast majority of complaints people had about the xB Classic. It appears to me to be an easy winner, and I expect it to do quite well for Scion.
The “complaints” about the new xB2 are not coming from the large number of folks who complained about the xB Classic – they, and the new group of potential buyers who didn’t/wouldn’t buy an xB Classic, will be lined up at the dealerships to get one of these tC station wagons.
Yes, I seem to be a complainer, but what I’m complaining about is NOT the new vehicle – it’s a great answer to all the feedback Scion got about the xB Classic – but the fact that there is now nothing on the US market from Scion, Toyota, or anyone else, that offers a rational City Car. With the discontinuance of the xB Classic, that entire niche is now left vacant in the US.
Scion/Toyota should have done some planning for having a vehicle available, when they dropped the xB Classic, in that niche market they created here. They found an enthusiastic, nearly fanatical, bunch of customers in that niche, and it is a shame that they don’t seem to have followed up on retaining them.
That’s my first and largest complaint.
My other complaint is their retaining the xB name for what is not just an different vehicle, but a different vehicle in a totally different class. I will be forever explaining to people, when I say I have an “xB,” that I have the real xB, not the new impostor.
When Vanilla’s little wheels finally fall off, I will need a new vehicle. I’ll want another “City Car.” I hope that someone has one available in the US. It would be very nice if that someone were Toyota.
