New Car Scoop

After 5 years of steadly increasing sales, Scion has steadily become one of the coolest brands for youth automotive enthusiasts. With a combination of funky looking cars like the xA and xB as well as unique commercials and marketing thrusts, this sub-brand of Toyota (ala Saturn) was created in order to subvert the stodgy apperance of Toyota, best known in recent years for cars like the Corolla and Camry. In the course of doing this, they’ve exposed America to cool cars that are fuel efficient and they’ve shown that conceptually, these American versions of Japanese “kei” cars, can make a huge impact in our society.

In the past 5 years, Scion has sold over 620,000 vehicles through over 900 Toyota-Scion dealerships. Despite only offering 3 car types through it’s lineup, people seem excited about the addition of a new vehicle every few years and the vast difference between cars like the xD and the tC. Though many criticize Scion for this move, I believe that it shows they are focused on doing what they do as well as they can and not trying to dilute their brand for “the bottom line.” Last year there was talk that Scion actually reduced it’s prodcution to keep the demand for the cars high by limiting the overall supply of cars.

Scion has proven that despite people’s criticisms, they are doing everything right and have been for the last 5 years. Here’s to you Scion and another 5 years of building quirky, yet great cars!

Source: TheCarConnection

How cool would it be to take your 1970 Dodge Challenger R/T to pickup your 2008 Dodge Challenger SRT-8? Keep reading and after the story you’ll see how cool. Jay Leno, proprietor of the coolest garage in the history of car ownership, has finally got the call from Dodge to pickup his new car, the #4 Dodge Challenger SRT-8. While we’re not sure who got the first 3, we can assume one of them is going to be in a Mopar museum and the other two probably went to some NASCAR team, Chrysler corporate officers or some charity for auction.

I’ve got to say, I agree with Jay in terms of how far the American cars have come. It’s an almost 4100 lbs car that handles well, stops well and goes well too. It’s no M6 or Mercedes CL600, but I could see someone who would otherwise be looking at a 645i or Audi A5 and say, “Man, I remember what it was like to have one of the originals when I was a kid” and take the detour to the Dodge dealer and save himself $20,000. The car’s chassis, as with most of the GT type sedans Dodge makes, is still based off the old Mercedes E-Class so you know you’re getting a solid machine. It looks mean as heck in black (and one of the best looking machines compared to the new-retro Mustang, Camaro and Charger). All in all, props go to Chrysler for making this car. It’s way more exciting than the Charger and I hope sales will show this to be the case. Now for the video:

Or click on the link: Jay Leno Gets A Challenger