Re: [Amc-list] Auto Industry (was Trademarks)

[adh@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx (Sandwich Maker)]

" From: "Swygert, Francis G MSgt 436 CES/CECM" <Francis.Swygert3@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
" 
" ---------
" 
" Mark Price:
" " Design? I'm a keep it simple kind of guy. Honda Element [except for
" " the 4 bucket seat stupidity] Or Scion XB!!!...
" 
" Andrew Hay:
" you can't get the original xb new anymore.  the replacement - just out
" - is longer, lower, wider, and almost twice as powerful... more the
" class of the element.  i'm amazed at toyota but they must have their
" reasons - they were selling all the xbs they could make, without much
" advertising, and making all the xbs their production lines could; by
" anyone's account a runaway success.  why change it?  the new xb
" carries nothing but the badge forward.
" 
" Frank:
" Yes, but you guys have to remember -- there are cars still made for the
" Japanese market not sold over here. I suspect you can still get
" something close to the original XB, if not the exact model, in Japan.

toyota makes a lot of cars based on the echo/yaris/xb/prius chassis
and drivetrain [more or less], but like the fj, the xb [and the scion
brand] seems to be us-only.  in my brief flight around the toyota
world i saw nothing even remotely like it.

" The replacement likely came from marketing and dealer surveys about what
" AMERICANS wanted. "Cute and practical little cars, if it was just a
" little bigger and had some more power, I'd buy one." I can hear that
" echoing across the country! All small cars seem to grow in the US, no
" matter how well they sell. If it sells well small, companies just seem
" to let it build a name then enlarge it. 

i could understand this if the xb had not been such a hot seller, but
their biggest stumble seems to be the audience - they aimed at the
youth market but found boomers taking it.

i'll agree - it is 'traditional' for models to become longer, lower,
wider, and more powerful when redesigned, and toyota is not immune -
look at the corolla which used to be their smallest car, but the
tercel, echo, xa/xb, yaris, and prius all slot in below it.
________________________________________________________________________
Andrew Hay                                  the genius nature
internet rambler                            is to see what all have seen
adh@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx                       and think what none thought
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