NEW YORK (AP) – Toyota is turning to a sporty hatchback and a low-cost sedan to restore some hipness – and sales – to its youth-oriented Scion brand.
If it snags a few baby boomers along the way, so be it.
The brand, started in 2003 to lure people 18 to 34 to the aging Toyota family, has worked to a point. The average head of a Scion-owning household is 51, three years below the industry average. Even though many boomers bought the versatile but boxy xB wagon to downsize from larger SUVs, the average age of a Scion driver has stayed around 37.
Brand chief Doug Murtha says the new cars to be unveiled at the New York auto show this week stay true to the original mission. But he also says: “We’re not turning away older buyers.”
At this point, Murtha can’t be too choosy. Buyers of any age haven’t been gravitating to Scion of late. Sales fell nearly 18 percent last year to around 58,000, and Scion hasn’t come close to its peak sales of more than 173,000 in 2006, according to Ward’s Automotive.