Scion on a Roll With New Launches
Fueled By Success of Their Retooled tC

by Jo Ann Holt

Toyota’s Scion recently unveiled their newest design, the Scion iQ, for area journalists.  Texas car writers were privileged to drive the four-seat micro-subcompact, which looks like a cross between a Fiat 500 and a SmartCar, around downtown Houston last week.   The name, iQ, refers to its combination of intelligence and quality, all cleverly packaged in a car that’s only 10 feet long. 

The iQ has a width of 66.1 inches and a height of 59.1 inches, and the wheels are placed as far as possible at the four corners of the iQ for extra stability.  Inside the iQ, the front passenger’s seat is offset from the driver’s, to give the rear passenger optimum legroom; thin front seat backs are also featured to provide even more legroom in back.

The iQ’s 1.3-liter engine with VVT-i, paired with a smooth Continuously Variable Transmission, provides plenty of oomph for urban drivers to get on and off the freeway when needed, plus great fuel efficiency of 37 mpg and low emissions.

Good things really do come in small packages with the iQ, which is surprisingly spacious inside, easily providing leg room for 2-3 adults, a child, and some gear.  If you are using only the front seats, the back folds down into a roomy storage area for groceries or luggage.  Other space-saving innovations include an ultra-compact AC unit, moving the heater blower to the center of the instrument panel, and a concave design of the front dash.  The glove box has become a drawer beneath the passenger seat.

But the most impressive factor, at least for this writer, was the iQ’s astonishing parking and turning ability, with a radius under 13 feet.  Even for those who are “parallel-parking challenged,” the iQ is so simple and easy to park it’s a no-brainer.  I was thrilled to fit the car snug as a bug between two curb-side vehicles, in a space that I normally would pass by as too difficult to try.  Parking hasn’t been this much fun since my motorcycle days!

We also practiced “turning on a dime” in a nearby church parking lot, and found the iQ’s steering ability and overall maneuverability offered almost as much fun as doing wheelies in the driveway when we were kids.  On bicycles, that is.

Even though the iQ is so small, it’s easy to feel safe and secure thanks to an industry-best 11 standard airbags that includes the world’s first rear window airbag.  Other features include the Star Safety System, Vehicle Stability Control and Traction Control.

Meanwhile, back at the beautiful Hotel Zza Zza where the launch was headquartered, Owen Peacock, National Marketing and Communications Manager for Scion, brought us up to date on Scion’s successes over the years.   

Peacock said, “When we debuted the xB eight years ago, it created an iconic vehicle that in many ways symbolically represented who Scion was in the early years of the brand.  And because it was a vehicle that grew to be more than just a car to its owners, it has been imitated quite a bit. But what has made it unique and never-been-duplicated, is the special connection that xB owners have for their car.”

“The iQ will do the same as it ushers in a ‘New Urbanism’–a vehicle for a more progressive buyer whose transportation needs and desires are changing.  While it will expand the Scion family to a fourth member, and be the first all-new model since the tC launched in 2004, it will mean much more than that to Scion. It’s a premium micro-subcompact that will no doubt expand Scion into yet another dimension.”

He added, “The iQ will define a new, premium micro-subcompact segment with a level of innovation that makes a car of this size possible.  It will inherit the Scion DNA of authenticity, community and personalization. The Scion brand has accomplished exactly what the company hoped for when it launched. We’re an investment in Toyota’s future.  Over 70% of Scion owners are new to the Toyota family.  And the new buyers that we bring into the family, we keep. Eight out of the top ten vehicles that tC owners trade into are either Toyota or Scion vehicles.” 

The Scion iQ is expected to launch on the West Coast this fall, and will make its way into local dealerships the first of the year.  The affordable “no-haggle” price, which includes delivery fees, will be less than $16,000.

Next up for Scion will be the highly anticipated 2012 launch of the FR-S (which stands for front-engine, rear-wheel drive, sport car). 

Jo Ann Holt is a car writer and journalist based in Dallas, and a member of the Texas Auto Writers Association (TAWA).