The funky, youth-oriented Scion brand of vehicles made by Toyota Motor Corp. will make its debut in Canada in 2010 at Toyota dealerships in Vancouver, Montreal and Toronto.
Scion, which features three entry-level vehicles such as the boxy xB, began life in the U.S. market in 2003 as a direct attempt to lure younger drivers to Toyota dealerships.
Plans for the brand's arrival in Canada were unveiled to Toyota Canada Inc. dealers at a meeting in Florida during the weekend.
"They want to get these Gen Y [drivers] into a Toyota earlier," said one dealer who attended the meeting.
Toyota Canada managing director Stephen Beatty said Yaris and Corolla have attracted young drivers to the Toyota fold, but Scion is different.
"Scion is about trend-setting youth - people at the leading edge of setting fashion trends," Mr. Beatty said in confirming that the plan was revealed to dealers at the meeting.
Other dealers said the average age of Toyota buyers in Canada is about 35. "Clearly they want to lower that into the 20s," said one dealer.
The auto maker knows people make a practical decision to buy Toyotas for their reliability and good resale reputation, he said, but it would also like to attract buyers who want the cars for emotional reasons.
Toyota has already appointed a director for the Scion brand in Canada, dealers said.
The cars will be sold through Scion showrooms in existing Toyota dealerships, rather than standalone stores, said one dealer.
That's a similar strategy to the one adopted by Mercedes-Benz Canada Inc., which started selling its micro-compact Smart cars in 2004 at separate showrooms set up inside existing Mercedes outlets. Scion would be the first new brand to enter Canada since Smart.
Scion dealers sold 130,181 cars in the United States last year, down 25 per cent from the peak of 173,034 hit in 2006.
A four-door version of the xB with an automatic transmission carries a manufacturers suggested retail price of $16,700 (U.S.). The tC, which has a more traditional shape as a compact car, goes for $17,800 and the xD is listed at $14,650.
The move to bring the brand to Canada builds on Toyota Canada president Yoichi Tomihara's aggressive strategy of boosting the company's sales in Canada to 250,000 vehicles annually or 15 per cent of the market by 2010.
As of the end of September, Toyota and its luxury Lexus brand have captured 14.2 per cent of the Canadian market.
© The Globe and Mail
