On Friday night, March 9, in downtown Memphis, Tennessee, the three-day International Auto Show was being held at the Cook Convention Center for the first day. While some exhibitors didn't see many visitors around their vehicles, others were quite happy to see gangs of high school boys and girls crawl in and out of their cars, take photos with their cell phones, turn on the music, and play with all kinds of instruments they can find. They are the"Gen-Y" (Y generation born after 1979) that car makers have expected.
Inside a Scion tC, Gary Drewny was taking video footage of his friends with his compact camcorder. Mr. Randy Chumley, an exhibitor from Scion, was passing out brochures and giving out Scion key tags to the boys."Scion is a very successful design from Toyota," said Randy Chumley and pointed to a glass cabinet of colorful long shocks to small gadgets,"because of these after market options and many features specially designed for them."
According to the Scion brochure, it has over 150 name-brand accessories for the customer to personalize their vehicles at the time of purchase that focus exclusively on aesthetics.
Gary Drewny, now a 16 years old sophomore of Bartlett High, lives with his mother."I plan to find a job in the summer and save some money," Drewney said,"My mother wants a new Corolla and she will give her old car to me. I may sell it and add some money to buy a tC." Gary began to read and collect information about the tC since July 2004 when it debuted in Memphis, Tennessee."My mom is a teacher. I have a Mac at home. I can surf the Internet."
Seventeen-year-old Kimber Duncan from Cordova, Tennessee sat on the driver seat of Scion xA to get some feelings for the car. Her boyfriend Daniel Herm, also 17, sat on the passenger seat playing with the knobs on the dashboard. The girl's father Patrick Duncan was watching from outside. "We are shopping for her (daughter)," said the father,"She will graduate in 3 months. We plan to buy a new car for her when she goes to college."
Beside the Toyota and Scion display, several people in their 40's and 50's were looking, feeling, and talking around the BMWs and Minis. Two boys in jeans and sneakers came by. The taller boy with an "Ole Miss" blue baseball cap stopped and took a photo of a BMW convertible with his digital camera. With their mission accomplished, two boys went away.
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