Scion leaves an impressive impact at the 2016 CIAS
Last year saw the launch of the partnership between Scion and Toyota in Canada, as more dealerships began to carry the Scion brand. Described as sleek, dynamic and urban, Scion’s tend to take the regular models and provide them with a youthful edge, helping to appeal to a wider range of individuals. Scion’s iM, a hatchback with a sporty design, made its Canadian Debut in 2015 as the next step of the Toyota Matrix, and with a wider market reach, the brand began to become more recognized across the country. At the 2016 Toronto International AutoShow, Scion took the opportunity to stand out, drawing attention with some of their latest models, prize-winning vehicles, and on-the-spot contest with prizes for all. It even featured the front of a Scion vehicle turned into a DJ-booth to spin some wicked, up-beat tracks throughout the event. If you’ve never heard of Scion, the brand is one that drives with visual appeal, but has the reliability of some of the more family-oriented vehicles, as well as that lower price tag. Despite their appearance of being incredibly sporty, and sometimes quite classy, almost all of their base models come in at under the $30,000 mark. The entire atmosphere of the Scion booth at the autoshow exuded the same presence as their vehicles — fun. They have an array of bright, sharp colours, are compact, and the kind of car that scream “We’re going on an adventure!” Their headline attraction this year was the winning team from their Scion Tuner Challenge FR-S edition, ‘Top Tuner’. The team was created in 2005, and under the leadership of Edmund Manasan, has played a pivotal role in the development of some of the most recognized show cars in the industry. Mr. Manasan was present throughout several days at the show, where he took the time to answer visitor questions about the car and the competition. In order to win, the car had to take on 11 different diverse challenges consisting of autocross, drifting, ice racing, a time attack, endurance, and of course, the people’s favourite. But the Top Tuner car wasn’t the only vehicle to make waves at the Scion booth. Two other special tuner vehicles — a Tuner tC and iQ, which were built by Evasive Motorsports, were on display. These vehicles, which one the U.S. version of the Tuner Challenge, feature custom-built panels on nearly the entire exterior, as well as a tailored cockpit with Sparco racing seats, a custom carbon dash, 11-inch touch-screen display and Defi gauges. Even without the custom Tuner work, the iQ is an innovative compact car that mixes urban design with comfort and quality. In an interview in August 2014, Cyril Dimitris, Director of Scion Canada, described the iQ as a “little car with big ideas.” The description certainly wasn’t an exaggeration. Despite it’s small size, the vehicle has a surprisingly large cabin space and includes a variety of premium features that allow for an incredible amount of customization. “For Canadians looking for an urban-savvy, efficient small car that’s also stylish and safe, the smart money is on the Scion iQ,” added Mr. Dimitris in the press release.” The booth saw a number of ways the brand enticed people. Along with their live-spinning DJ, giveaways of bags, posters and the newest
edition of Scion Magazine, and their “What Moves You Contest”, there was no shortage of things to do at the Scion booth. However, with the brand already announcing that they would stop Canadian manufacturing of their vehicles this summer, citing that it wasn’t a failure to hit their intended market that led to the decision. The company was cited as saying that the brand had been designed to make the Toyota brands and dealership stronger, and more
appealing to those under the age of 25, which Scion accomplished. With such an impressive impact at the 2016 AutoShow, one has to wonder whether this was set up to be a last-ditch effort to promote the brand, or the company’s way to go ‘out
with a bang’. Regardless of the reasoning behind the direction of their booth, there was a lot to impress even the sceptics when it came to the design
and capabilities of Scion and their vehicles at the Canadian International AutoShow. Written by Tabitha Wells
