bitkahuna

iTrader: (20)

^^ really like that xD - always thought it was sharp, and sharper with rims shown above.

as for cars like that mira cocoa and Move Conte Custom - they can stay in japan.

Fizzboy7

This article is BS. Scion is not going to dump a model just because one version of it isn't successful. The first xB was a raging hit, they screwed up the second one, but there's a huge opportunity to make the third generation glorious. If Scion gave up that fast, they'd be out of business. Lesson learned. Get back to the basics with the xB and things will pan out.

spwolf

original xB looked a lot like Move Custom and sold like crazy... new one is US designed and sold 4x less :-)

mmarshall

That would be true of most auto companies. But Scion, like the now-discontinued Saturn, doesn't necessarily operate that way. Saturn pioneered list, no-haggle pricing and deliberately, without reason, dumped the most successful products they ever did.....the original S-series plastic-body compacts. Scion seems to be following in their footsteps.

Scion also (apparantly) had a policy of a limited time-span for each model they do, regardless of its success or failure, although I agree with you that it doesn't make much sense from a buisness point of view.

Fizzboy7

I don't think you can build a solid auto business with this type of flakiness. So much of car sales are built upon past experience and reputation. When you throw out different models and they don't have time to build a longterm presense in the marketplace, you lose momentum.

Another tough spot with Scion is their models are built for a less stable customer. Less stable means more growing up and changing, which means more moving away and on to something else. I know Scion's idea was to grab the younger into this brand first, and then lead them into Toyota as they age. But why go about business in such a difficult, roundabout way? Just make the first product damn good and the customer will stay anyway. If the gen 2 xB was designed better, we wouldn't be having this thread.