Scion debuts at N.Y. auto show with mandate to draw younger buyers to Toyota fold

After years of study, Toyota Motor Corp. introduced Scion, a brand aimed at attracting younger buyers, with a concept, the boxy bbX crossover, at the New York auto show on March 27, 2002.

Scion aimed to offer distinctively designed smaller vehicles and a unique purchase and ownership experience to draw younger generations of shoppers who wanted something different than what their parents drove.

Jim Press, then COO of Toyota Motor Sales U.S.A., called the launch of Scion at the 2002 New York auto show a "classroom for us."

"We're listening," Press said at the time. "Are we going to make mistakes? You bet we are."

Scion sales started in 2003 in California with the uniquely styled xB and xA compact hatchback. Scion went national in 2004 as part of the launch of the tC coupe, which eventually became the brand's top seller.

U.S. sales peaked at 173,034 in 2006.

In its early years, 75 percent of Scion owners were new to Toyota. The median age of a Scion driver averaged 11 years younger than the industry average.

The New York auto show was also the venue to first unwrap influential Scion concepts such as the t2B, Fuse and FR-S, as well as production versions of the tC and iQ.

Scion served as a proving ground for experiential, grassroots marketing. It staged college tours and hosted pool parties and nightclub events, to attract younger buyers.

Scion, by design, limited trim and option packages to reduce complexity and inventory risk for dealers. An extensive catalog of aftermarket parts and accessories provided customization for buyers and generous profits for dealers.

In another appeal to younger consumers, Scion's Pure Price program offered no-haggle pricing across the lineup.

Scion also offered an early online buying tool, Pure Process Plus, aimed at reducing the time a shopper spent in a store to around an hour.

Toyota's sudden-acceleration crisis shifted corporate attention and resources away from Scion, and sales fell to 45,678 in 2010 as the country emerged from the 2008-09 financial crisis.

As the market recovered in the 2010s, Scion lost further ground. U.S. sales of Scion's lineup tallied 32,958 in 2015, a decline of 43 percent from 2014 in a market that continued to shift to bigger crossovers, SUVs and trucks.

Toyota in Feb. 2016 disclosed plans to scrap Scion, in large part because the Toyota brand was drawing a fair share of younger buyers and the youth market had changed. It became the latest, but rare, failure of a Japanese automotive brand in the U.S. Three 2017 Scion models were rebadged as Toyotas starting in August 2016. Output of the Scion tC ended in August 2016.