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The practice of spinning off brands to cater to a specific segment of the car buying public has its roots in the earliest days of selling cars. Traditionally, these captive brands were business acquisitions and catered to an upmarket buyer -- Lincoln, Cadillac and HUMMER are all acquired divisions that cater to luxury buyers. Toyota did things differently with the Scion brand. Scion was founded in 2003 as a US-only division to sell trendy and economical vehicles that Toyota was already selling in Japanese and European markets. Scion utilizes a strong media message combined with no-haggle pricing and a base-trim vehicle system that makes every car sold by Scion essentially the same. Scion caters to the individual tastes of Generation Y consumers by offering approximately 40 aftermarket accessories that can be ordered and installed at the dealership level. This all amounts to Toyota offering the Scion brand in a different way than most car buyers are used to.
The Scion Promise
Borrowing another page from the Saturn playbook, which touted Saturn being "A Different Kind of Car Company", the Scion has at its core a three-part brand promise. This brand promise offers openness, flexibility, and personalization and outlines the way Scion seeks to do business. This promise includes: Openness - “We will consistently provide quality products and a friendly, transparent sales and service process.” Flexibility - “We will adapt to the demands of your lifestyle to make car purchase and ownership easy and enjoyable.” Personalization - “We will provide the tools - you make your Scion a unique expression of who you are.”
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