Scion (automobile)

Scion is a marque of Toyota started in 2003 and will cease production by the end of 2016. Designed as an extension of Toyota's efforts to appeal towards younger customers, the Scion brand primarily featured sports compact vehicles (primarily badge engineered from Toyota's international models), a simplified "pure price" model, and eschewed trim levels in favor of offering a single trim for each vehicle with a range of factory and aftermarket options for buyers to choose from to personalize their vehicle. The Scion name, meaning the descendant of a family or heir, refers both to the brand's cars and their owners. The brand first soft launched in the United States at selected Toyota dealers in the state of California in June 2003, before expanding nationwide by February 2004. In 2010, Scion expanded into Canada. In an effort to target the generation Y demographic, Scion primarily relied on guerrilla and viral marketing techniques.

Scion was originally launched with promises of short product cycle and value based partly on low dealer margins, which became difficult to keep as sales fell after the economic downturn. On February 3, 2016, Toyota announced that it would discontinue the Scion brand in August 2016, with selected models to be re-branded as Toyota vehicles for the 2017 model year.

Car

A car is a wheeled, self-powered motor vehicle used for transportation and a product of the automotive industry. Most definitions of the term specify that cars are designed to run primarily on roads, to have seating for one to eight people, to typically have four wheels with tyres, and to be constructed principally for the transport of people rather than goods. The year 1886 is regarded as the birth year of the modern car. In that year, German inventor Karl Benz built the Benz Patent-Motorwagen. Cars did not become widely available until the early 20th century. One of the first cars that was accessible to the masses was the 1908 Model T, an American car manufactured by the Ford Motor Company. Cars were rapidly adopted in the United States of America, where they replaced animal-drawn carriages and carts, but took much longer to be accepted in Western Europe and other parts of the world.

Cars are equipped with controls used for driving, parking, passenger comfort and safety, and controlling a variety of lights. Over the decades, additional features and controls have been added to vehicles, making them progressively more complex. Examples include rear reversing cameras, air conditioning, navigation systems, and in car entertainment. Most cars in use in the 2010s are propelled by an internal combustion engine, fueled by deflagration of gasoline (also known as petrol) or diesel. Both fuels cause air pollution and are also blamed for contributing to climate change and global warming. Vehicles using alternative fuels such as ethanol flexible-fuel vehicles and natural gas vehicles are also gaining popularity in some countries. Electric cars, which were invented early in the history of the car, began to become commercially available in 2008.

Automobile (magazine)

Automobile is a United States-based automobile magazine published by TEN: The Enthusiast Network. A group of former employees of Car and Driver led by David E. Davis founded Automobile in 1986 with support from Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation– using the credo No Boring Cars.Automobile distinguishes itself as more of a lifestyle magazine than the other automotive publications, an editorial theme that Davis greatly expanded upon from his tenure as the editor of Car and Driver.

Unlike most other automobile magazines, Automobile does not often do instrumented tests of cars or provide much technical data. Instead, the reviews of vehicles are subjective experiential reports with the cars in their naturally intended, real world environment. Additionally, Automobile reserves a good portion of each issue covering vehicles no longer in production, but still relevant to collectors or automotive history as a whole. For example, the magazine includes features such as "Collectable Classic," an in-depth review of a particular older car, and reports from recent classic and antique car auctions. Automobile also has a regular column by former General Motors designer Robert Cumberford, who analyzes styling elements of current production models and show cars, often linking their design to those of older cars.

Automobile (disambiguation)

An automobile or car is a kind of wheeled motor vehicle. Automobile may also refer to: