Originally Posted by FRiSson
Some people are highly brand-sensitive. They grew up in an era where from high school, or maybe earlier, what you wore and carried defined who you were and who you could hang out with.
To me, that's a triumph of mature capitalism, a stage where major corporate players cannot create genuine wants (refrigeration, air conditioning, mobility) since most of them are already met. Instead, in order to continue to grow and prosper, marketers focus on creating imaginary needs, such as brand x vs brand y, "coolness", social positioning, or desire to appear "rebellious".
Toyota is one of the largest brands in the world. The company stands for excellence in manufacturing and a broad range of products. Worldwide, the company is best known for 3 products, its family-sized Camry, the smaller Corolla, and its durable trucks. Its "sporty" legacy is a very tiny part of its overall image. Scion, is a sub-brand of Toyota. It hasn't been very successful as a stand-alone brand. Essentially its stands for very little except as an economy division of Toyota. It has a good reputation for quality vehicles - but that is about it.
The idea that some people get so worked up about a nominal sub-brand is foreign to me. But my generation really didn't car about brands. It didn't define us to any significant extent. We liked cars, but were happy to drive whatever was available. It was just great to have a vehicle that was reliable. When Honda Civics started getting popular they were great, something special. But, not because the brand had prestige, but because how fun they were to drive, and how cheap and reliable they were. They doubled the fun of driving vs the crap that U.S. automakers were putting out at that time. When you saw another Honda driver, you recognized a kindred spirit, someone who was having as much fun as you were.
What I really like about the FR-S is that we drivers, and a few knowledgeable people, know how good this car is, how well engineered and fun it is for the money. If the public doesn't recognize that, I don't care. On the flip side, if someone shows up with a 60K full-spec BMW I might be impressed by the car, but exactly zero of that rubs off on the owner. There is no transfer of quality or prestige. That only comes with knowing the person.
If the FR-S were a Toyota-branded car, it would make no difference to me. The same goes for Subaru. Except for its WRX, it is just another budget car maker (with worse than average dealers).
I think we are seeing the twilight of the super-sports car. The Bugatti, the all-automatic Ferrari, the Maserati, Lexus F, are not real cars. They are almost grotesquely over-performing platforms for monster engines, sophisticated interventional electronics and luxury goods. The relationship with the driver is nearly as distant as the occupant of a chauffeur-driven limousine. They are approaching what the Stealth Bomber is, a plane that can only be flown by a computer.
That's what makes the FR-S/BRZ/GT86 so exciting. It may be both the return, and perhaps the last example of, a car that is almost wholly controlled by its driver, and has almost none of the living-room luxuries and cosseting that drivers have become accustomed to. In a way, that makes it the anti-supercar. That feeling is to my mind, only enhanced by the Scion badge that essentially means nothing more than "Basic Toyota."
|