I was listening to the radio today, and heard an ad for the local Toyota/Scion dealership. It went something like:

"Looking for a sporty, inexpensive car? Come on down and check out the Scion xA! Want something with a little more performance and a panoramic sunroof? Come by and check out the Scion tC!"

What's odd about this, you may be asking yourself? They didn't mention the xB ONCE in the entire commercial. Then again, I've seen at least 10 xBs around town (I'm sure there are more), yet I've only seen 1 xA and 1 tC. My "unofficial scientific hypothesis" is that the xB is outselling the xA and tC somewhere in the neighborhood of 10 to 1. It may not be that high, but I know the xB is beating the sales of the other two models COMBINED where I live.

You don't spend lots of money advertising what sells, which is why the commercial was all about the xA and tC.

Have you noticed similar things going on where you live?

 

it would make sense to promote the models that aren't selling well. the xBs seem to sell well if only on word of mouth alone it seems.

 

No, they are fairly well balanced out here. I know originally that Scion was expecting to sell more xAs than xBs and were caught unprepared but tC sales numbers have outpaced xBs for every month they've been out, IIRC. I think that people tend to think of the xB when they hear Scion, so maybe they're trying to balance things out.

 

That's true. I told a guy at work I was going to "get a Scion" (I didn't say which model), and he replied "That's one of those square truck-things, isn't it"?

 

My closest dealer is about 200 miles away, which is where I had to get mine from. It seems like even in my area I see more xB commercials (on TV) than anything, except I have been catching the Modified xA commercial a lot. Surprisingly, considering the dealer is so far away, there are 6 xB's, 2 xA's, and 2 tC's, but I bet noone gets looks or responses like the xB's do on the road.

 

last years sales (2004): the xB sold the most, the tC second, and the xA third....BUT....you have to remember that the tC wasn't out for the whole year....so if you put the sales into a ratio with the time, the tC has sold the most and the xA the least with the xB in between.....

 

currently scions sales are broken down as such...this is just approx by the way
40% tC
40% xB
20% xA

 

thats about right, they antiicipated around 50% tC 30% xb and 20% xA upon tC's arrival

 

I see billboards all over Spokane for the xB but I haven't seen/heard anything for the others!

 

The xB sells itself

-THE DON

 

Its true the Xb does sell itself, Its one of those cars you see it you love it or hate it. When I first saw one at a toyota dealer { almost a 2 years ago } I said to the sales guy what is it do you sell it I want it, to which he replied we will be selling them in about 6 months. Me: good sign me up now !!! Him: Do you want to test drive it ?? Research the car alittle maybe you would like this Toyota Matrix you can take it now? ME: No I dont care about driving it or anything I love the look where do I sign. That is basicly how I bought my box a little over a year ago.

 

here in socal on Kroq they have xb commercials all the time mostly done buy this guy striker

 

That explains the lack of xB radio ads here then. There are 10X the number of xBs on the road here than the other models. I think they're trying to compensate for the deficiency in xA and tC sales here...

There are still plenty of xB, xB/xA, and xB/xA/tC TV commercials here, but I think that's due to the fact that they're national commercials and not programmed by the local TV stations. :D

 

That it deffinetly does! I'm still surprised that after almost a year after going nationwide that people still stare with amazement. They are still seeing them for the first time in person. It must be because of where I live... People don't get out much But I'm still loving the attention

 

We have had huge billboards up all over the place for a long time, and advertisments on the city bus, and people here still go bug-eyed when they see mine *lol* It is sooo funny. I am an attention ***** so I don't mind Oh except when someone says, "That is the ugliest thing I've ever seen." Then I get a little miffed.

 

When I hear garbage like that, I just consider the source

 

When some makes a comment about my Xb like that, I just asked them how much is cost to fill up their car and what type of gas milages are they getting. Then I suggest that if they don't like what I'm driving I'm will to drive my Montero if they by the gas

 

I've never seen a commercial~ Only the DVD that comes from the dealership....never even heard of a scion or seen one until I did a google search for new cars under $15,000 2 months ago. Now I see them, but it's rare.

 

I have never seen a commercial or heard one for that matter.

 

Here ya go! :D

http://extranet.attik.com/~scion/sci.../TYNX-5045.mov