[wbradley]

I laugh at all the brand whores on the forum.

Scion was formed as a part of Project Genesis, an idea Toyota executives came up with in order to bring in younger customers to the Toyota products and build brand loyalty from there. The MR2 Spyder was the first car for the US intended to start the trend. Sadly Canada never got that model and only got the Scion brand 10 years later. That was probably necessary due to dwindling volumes in the US.

According to a recent Scion presentation at the New York show this year, Scion's median buyer age is 31, the youngest in the industry and 10 years less than average. Where Toyota's conservative image has helped them win the mainstream buyers, Scion has definitely achieved their goal regarding new and first time buyers. Hardly a failure and sagging sales in recent years is easily correlated to the state of the US economy. In 2012 Scion sold over 70,000 vehicles, a pretty good recovery from a low of 45,000 in recent times but not the 90,000 peak reached earlier on.

I say let the marketing people do what's best for the company at large. If you don't find the brand prestigious, buy another make. I still like the fact that buying anything affiliated with Toyota is a smart move. I purchased 5 new Acuras and then 2 Hondas consecutively. I am much older than the average demographic but guess what, if I decide to go back to sedans I'd look at the Avalon or any Toyota in a heart beat. Honda lost me and I am sure Scion is doing their job successfully. As a curious aside, they do get a surprisingly significant number of value conscious older buyers especially for the xB. Probably sales that otherwise might go to the Korean brands.