Next Bigger Scion xB to Be Exclusive for North America

TOKYO — To build up the Scion youth brand, Toyota plans to make the next xB wagon bigger and U.S. exclusive, says a report in Tokyo.

Launching in 2006, the next Scion xB will be based off the new-generation Corolla platform and will seriously bulk up in size, according to the Nikkan Kogyo Shimbun industry newspaper.

The current xB (known as the bB, or Black Box, in Japan) is spun off the smaller Yaris platform. Confounding the critics who said it was too compact and quirky for the U.S. market, the xB has proved to be a smash hit. In 2005, U.S. Scion sales are expected to surpass 150,000 units for the first time.

Scion displayed the well-received t2B concept at the 2005 New York Auto Show, as a pointer, perhaps, to the next xB. Designed by Toyota's CALTY studio in Newport Beach, California, the t2B (Tall Two-Box) uses the same 2.4-liter, four-cylinder engine as the tC coupe and stands a full 10 inches longer and 4 inches wider than today's 1.5-liter xB.

Before the end of this year, Toyota will launch a new bB in Japan but that's a purely domestic 1.5-liter model.

Source:
Edmunds.com