Toyota’s Scion lineup has been wildly successful, and with the continued expansion of the brand Toyota plans on releasing a new automobile dubbed the Scion xP–the letter ‘P’ for pickup of course! And, like all of Scion’s other products, the vehicle will appeal to the previously ignored Generation Y crowd searching for a hip, urban automobile.
The Scion van is unlike your classic entry-level pickup and is modeled after the Fuse concept car. The xP sports many trendy and urban styling features similar to it’s Scion counterparts as well as some new and inventive features. Some of the jazzy features include a tailgate that unfolds into a seat for 2, rear unfolding speakers, and a beverage cooler in the rear center console. Sketches of the auto exemplify an “urban-esque” pickup with, assertive 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 beginning cost 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 sole “real” rival is the Ford Ranger–a tiny 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 more youthful buyers with the xP, they can than transition them to their “more mature” Toyota Tundra. This could enable them to keep long, satisfied buyers coming back for more.
The Scion xP is booked to be released in 2010. It wouldn’t be a surprise to me if the car 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 customer reply will soon unfold after the 2010 mark is shortly reached.
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Tags: toyota scion