Next gen twin

[soundman98]

i love the vague marketing they do. i still get asked if my 2014 is new!

it's enjoyable to have a car that no one knows about that's still made by some major manufacturers

[JD001]

Is this guy's microphone happy to hear the news that a Gen 2 is due in 2021??

[CrowsFeast]

^If you ignore everything forward of the front wheels centerline that picture sure looks like the current model.

[Tcoat]

Originally Posted by Lantanafrs2

In 2012 the press did all their advertising for them.

No. The "press" and internet gave info to those already interested. They had no impact on making the general public aware there was a such thing.


My situation is actually a perfect example.


Back in 2010 or so I came across an article about the concept and thought "that is cool if they ever actually do it". Since I had absolutely zero interest in either Toyota or Subaru at that point I them immediately forgot all about it. I did watch the auto news (for as much as I trusted any of it) for the next few years but my focus was entirely upon the rapidly declining performance arm of Mitsubishi and the rise of the Genesis coupe as it evolved to something that may interest me.


No doubt there were articles about the development and release of the Twins but again I would not have noticed them since I was not looking for info on them.
I did not even know the car was being made until I was killing time while my Lancer Gt was getting an oil change and I wandered over to the Scion dealership to look at this tC thing I had seen driving down the road the previous weekend. That was when I walked into the dealership and saw my very first ever FRS (in real life, the internet or any other medium). I bought literally the very first one I ever laid eyes on or even knew existed!


The point of this story is that had there been some form of advertising directed at the general public it may have caught more people's attention but they were only making limited numbers for a specific group so they didn't care if they had more attention. Be willing to bet that most of those sold to the "normal" pubic were to people that walked into a dealership and spotted one the exact same as me.

[mrg666]

Originally Posted by Lantanafrs2

Hakone is getting alot of well deserved attention from YouTube reviewers.

Is there anything new that I don't know? I am not sure if there is anything left to review in Hakone other than its color.

[Tcoat]

Originally Posted by CrowsFeast

^If you ignore everything forward of the front wheels centerline that picture sure looks like the current model.

That is because it IS the current model. That picture that has been resurrected as the "new" concept is at least 3 years old (possibly 4) and was a very specific concept for a very specific version. It is NOT the new concept that the clickbaits are claiming but simply the picture that pops up when you search for "GR 86". Since the internet is claiming the next gen will be called a "GR 86" it is a natural fit for their bullshit.


https://driving.ca/toyota/auto-shows...pped-86-hybrid

[Tcoat]

Originally Posted by mrg666

Is there anything new that I don't know? I am not sure if there is anything left to review in Hakone other than its color.

All the reviews are the same with varying degrees of annoyance depending upon the abilities of the reviewer.


"Tell us in the comments what you think of this colour"
"The green is stunning"
"The special bronze wheels are a nice contrast"
"You get special seats, and armrest and carpeted trunk"
"The tan manual case and fob covers are cool"
"Otherwise it is exactly the same as a GT"

[Lantanafrs2]

Actually, my local newspaper at the time had the frs headlining its auto section. If you opened the paper you were staring at a red frs just like mine. Not to mention the barrage of magazine articles and online content. In 2013 people would approach me and tell me they read about the scion that Subaru makes. Lol

[Dadhawk]

Originally Posted by Tcoat

The point of this story is that had there been some form of advertising directed at the general public it may have caught more people's attention but they were only making limited numbers for a specific group so they didn't care if they had more attention. Be willing to bet that most of those sold to the "normal" pubic were to people that walked into a dealership and spotted one the exact same as me.

It didn't help that the 86 was branded Scion in NA and Scion basically only did social media marketing.

The First 86 contest was a good example. Like you, I stumbled on the car by accident while planning for a new purchase, and just happened on the contest at the right time to apply.

They spent a HUGE amount of money on the winners and the Long Beach event (imagine flying 80 some people to an event in Long Beach, putting them up in a good hotel for 3 nights, busing them around, feeding and entertaining them, taking them to a drift event, and giving them all serious swag, only to post it on some social media that almost no one paid attention to at the time. All told, with the trip and other things I received, I probably got $2,000 to $3,000 worth of "stuff" out of it. Others got way more because their dealerships cared (mine couldn't have cared less about the whole thing, they barely acknowledged it was a thing, and almost sold my car from underneath me).

Scion/Toyota should have gotten a lot more mileage out of what they spent.

[Tcoat]

Originally Posted by Lantanafrs2

Actually, my local newspaper at the time had the frs headlining its auto section. If you opened the paper you were staring at a red frs just like mine. Not to mention the barrage of magazine articles and online content. In 2013 people would approach me and tell me they read about the scion that Subaru makes. Lol

Still attracting the attention of a miniscule segment of the public. You need to be already reading magazines or looking for such topics on the internet before it has any meaning. Even the newspaper would not grab the bulk of the public. All your examples are exactly what I meant when I said it was information focused at the group that was already aware not advertising.
Advertising for the unwashed masses would be TV ads repeatedly popping up during shows that are not car related, full colour spreads in magazines that are not automotive in nature, radio spots or even billboards. In other words all the stuff you see every day for SUVs and pickup trucks. I bet I get hammered by ads from all the car companies 10 or more times a day.

[Dadhawk]

Originally Posted by Tcoat

I bet I get hammered by ads from all the car companies 10 or more times a day.

It's interesting to me what a low percentage of them any more are specific model focused though. "Back in the day" just about every ad was for a specific model, now its more about the "Toyota Sales Event", or the "Our line of SUVs that aren't SUVs but some other cute name we thought of to catch your attention" or "We're Honda, we sell bikes, generators, and even planes, come see our Civic".

I always tune out generic ads, but usually watch specific car ads even when its something I would never buy.

[Tcoat]

Originally Posted by Dadhawk

It's interesting to me what a low percentage of them any more are specific model focused though. "Back in the day" just about every ad was for a specific model, now its more about the "Toyota Sales Event", or the "Our line of SUVs that aren't SUVs but some other cute name we thought of to catch your attention" or "We're Honda, we sell bikes, generators, and even planes, come see our Civic".

I always tune out generic ads, but usually watch specific car ads even when its something I would never buy.

May be a little different here because we still get vehicle specific advertising on a regular basis. It can be funny in that almost all the vehicles they push are the ones that sell anyway. Either that or the focused advertising actually works since the list of best selling vehicles here lines up with the ad intensity almost to the tee.

[Stephen W.]

Originally Posted by Lantanafrs2

Actually, my local newspaper at the time had the frs headlining its auto section. If you opened the paper you were staring at a red frs just like mine. Not to mention the barrage of magazine articles and online content. In 2013 people would approach me and tell me they read about the scion that Subaru makes. Lol

Hahaha... Reminds me of a story the wife told me just last week. A customer with his teen aged son in tow walks in to enquire about his vehicle. During the conversation they start talking about our Subarus and the young boy hears the letters STi. He starts firing off questions and his dad explains how both the wife and I both own WRX STi's. The wife has to correct him and explains that I sold my 2006 and now just have my BRZ tS. The young lad yells out; "A real one?" The wife was confused and he says; "A real Subaru BRZ! Not one of those fake Toyota FR-S's." She tried to keep a straight face but I don't think she was very successful. She also didn't attempt to explain the origin of the twins.

[soundman98]

now i'm curious what makes an fr-s fake!