Nice New Toyotas

Toyota’s Scion lineup has been wildly successful, and with the continued expansion of the brand Toyota plans on releasing a new vehicle dubbed the Scion xP–the letter ‘P’ for pickup of course! And, like all of Scion’s other products, the car will appeal to the previously ignored Generation Y crowd looking for a hip, urban vehicle.

The Scion truck is unlike your typical entry-level pickup and is modeled after the Fuse concept car. The xP sports numerous trendy and urban styling features similar to it’s Scion counterparts as well as some new and innovative features. Some of the jazzy features include a tailgate that unfolds into a seat for two, rear unfolding speakers, and a beverage cooler in the rear center console. Sketches of the vehicle exemplify an “urban-esque” pickup with, aggressive styling features, a low and tall body profile, and even a hood scoop. The engine specs are quite conservative for the truck–a 161 horsepower, 2.4 cylinder engine is under the hood, which should provide reasonable fuel economy for an entry level pickup.

According to pickuptruck.com, the MSRP starting price of the xP is estimated at around £12,000 which is considerably cheap for the features, options, and styling the coupe sports. Most analysts are predicting that the xP should do quite well in the entry-level pickup segment as the only “real” competitor is the Ford Ranger–a small pickup that hasn’t seen any improvements for quite a few years now. Another benefit for Toyota, is that once they hook some of the younger buyers with the xP, they can than transition them to their “more mature” Toyota Tundra. This will enable them to keep long, satisfied customers coming back for more.

The Scion xP is scheduled to be released in 2010. It would not be a surprise to me if the vehicle outsold the Ford Ranger, and helped Toyota to further increase their market share over it’s “Big 3″ rivals. The test of time will tell, and consumer response will soon unfold after the 2010 mark is soon reached.

Toyota is doing everything it can to clean up its public image due to the recent recalls and no-sale announcement. Toyota has launched new ads featuring customers saying, “Their next car will be a Toyota” plus offering huge incentives to customers such as 0% for 60 months on 8 models, incredible 36 month lease programs on 10 models. The offers don’t stop there, Toyota announced a 2 year maintenance program for Owner Loyalty. That simply means that if you own a Toyota, Lexus or Scion – you don’t need to trade it in – and purchase a new Toyota, you get 2 years of free maintenance. Is this enough to lure customers back into Toyota showrooms?

I asked some local dealers throughout the Tampa area to find out how February was and if they noticed any difference with the new programs in March.

David Bertoncini, Sales Manager, Autoway Toyota, Pinellas Park, FL had this to say about the recall, “Our store was up from February 2009 vs. February 2010. We were up 25% in new, 35% in used, it maybe bad publicity, but it was publicity. Toyota is looking for a 100 car increase for us in March 2010 vs. February 2010. We still gotta keep going.” David continued, “60% of the people that buy Toyota, will keep buying Toyota, no matter what. 30% of the people need to be resold on Toyota, the quality, the safety, the reliability and the other 10% we might lose to the competition.”

When I asked David what his thoughts were on the incentive programs and if he had noticed an uptick in business he quickly responded, “Yes, business and traffic have improved and we are on pace to exceed our objective, we are looking for 300 new cars in March.” Autoway Toyota sold 179 new cars in February 2010, finishing in the top 10 in Southeast Toyota.

Mike Chaparro, Sales Manager, Sun Toyota, New Port Richey, FL told me, “The business was starting to rebound and we were on a roll, then the recalls hit. Overall that made the month tough, customers were leery, customers felt they were being neglected because they weren’t notified about their recalls soon enough, if their car was in the recall or not. It was tough trying to sell someone a new car while in the same showroom we had someone who was screaming mad at Toyota about the recall. However, when the month started to wind down, the loyal customers showed up and said they wanted to buy new Toyotas despite what was going on in the media. Customers said, ‘We have been driving these cars for 30 years, we won’t buy anything but Toyota.”

Hearing that instantly reminded me of what David had said about the 60%. Mike had this to say about the programs, “The new programs are stronger than death. We have been selling 7 or 8 new cars every day since the first day of the month. It is a buyer’s market right now and these incentives are gravy for them.” Sun Toyota finished February 2010 with 150 new cars, finishing 11th in Southeast Toyota. They are looking to sell 200 new cars in March.

Several other stores had asked that their employees not discuss the recall and its effect on sales. However, off the record I was told that service is of course slammed and most stores despite the recalls had business equal to or better than 2009.

Lee Johansen

The current xB was first released for the 2008 model year. At that time one of the upgrades from the prior version was the engine, along with a complete redesign. The 2.4L engine was already in use for the Camry sedans and Solara coupe models. So it is a well-proven engine from the Toyota stable.

The Scion philosophy is that all the cars leave the factory exactly the same with the exception of the transmission. The idea is that the buyer customizes their car at the time of purchase with a variety of accessories and added items.

As a result, there is only one engine choice in the 2010 Scion xB. At 2.4L this engine offers 158 horsepower and torque of 162 at 4400 rpm from four cylinders. The engine is also utilizing Toyota’s VVT-i technology. The variable valve timing with intelligence (VVT-i) uses a double overhead cam and 16 valves to optimize the airflow through the engine. This results in more power and the added benefit of better fuel economy. In line with the newer engines in the market, this requires no tune up until the mileage has exceeded 100,000, It has a sealed cooling system that is also rated as maintenance free for the first 100k.

As a second brand for the Toyota company, Scion has been successful at creating their own unique identity. Sharing engines that are considered bulletproof in conjunction with the unique and forward thinking designs of their line, Scion is a brand to be reckoned with. The fact that the 2.4L engine in the xB body offers an excellent power to weight ratio, will only take the Scion brand further along this road.

Find out more about Scion xB Engine and other industry specific topics.

You may be asking yourself this question lately especially in light of the news that several Toyota models have been recalled while a Lexus model failed an important Consumer Reports safety test. These are some of the worst days in the history of Toyota, challenging times for the world’s largest auto maker.

But should you avoid Toyota altogether? As editor for Auto Trends and The Auto Writer and as a columnist for a pair of regional print publications, your concern is something I hear of occasionally. Editors are always concerned about covering a potentially unsafe vehicle while some readers wonder if they should avoid Toyota completely.

It can be easy to make your decision based solely on what you’re hearing in the news. Some of what has come out about Toyota is valid, but opportunists have gotten in their bashes too. You need facts and an objective voice, something I will try to provide as someone who doesn’t have any “skin in this game.”

Fact #1 – Toyota is not as reliable as they once were. This apparently is true as the company grew so fast that they put aside some of the warning signs indicating certain problems were surfacing. Reports at this time are unclear, but we think Toyota may have known that their accelerator pedals were a problem as far back as 2006. While all manufacturers have to deal with quality issues at some level, how they handle problems is telling: are they coming clean or burying the truth?

Fact #2 – Toyota quality remains high overall. Yes, absolutely. Many consumer surveys and most automotive analysts agree that when it comes to the quality and value of Toyota vehicles, Toyota is at or near the top. Honda, Ford, Hyundai and Buick are among the brands which have fared well in recent years, while Toyota continues to score well across its Toyota, Lexus and Scion lines.

Fact #3 – Some of the criticism appears exaggerated. Unfortunately, this appears to be so. Much has happened over the past few months to cause worry for current owners and for those shopping for a new Toyota. Stories of a runaway Lexus flying off the road and killing all four occupants in California and news that a certain Toyota Prius had trouble stopping on the expressway is national news. The first story is valid, the second is doubtful. And, some members of the press are smelling blood and seem to be looking for a Pulitzer Prize. In any case, reading up on these stories can tell you much including whether claims are valid or are being trumped up.

Fact #4 – Customer sales remain strong, so Toyota will still be around. Toyota’s bad news is good news for buyers who aren’t worried that their accelerator pedal is going to get stuck, their SUV flip over or some other problem surface. To win back customers while assuring current, but nervous owners that they’re here for the long haul, the automaker is offering unprecedented discounts and financing to win your business. In March 2010 that translated to some of the strongest sales for Toyota as customers saw a bargain and decided to make their purchase.

My personal disappointment with Toyota parallels that of what some other people in this industry are experiencing: we long believed Toyota represented some of the best cars in the industry, even buying their products. But we’ve also discovered an insular culture, one that has greedily jumped to the top of the industry while stupidly ignoring problems, some quite serious.

Perhaps the one question to ask yourself is this one: Can I trust Toyota to provide me with a safe and reliable vehicle, one whose value has not been compromised by the latest recall or rumor? If you feel satisfied with your answer, then you’ll know what direction to take.

Matthew C. Keegan