Scion Announces a One Percent Mid-Year Price Increase for Popular xB Crossover

Anybody whos driven around L.A. or any other large U.S. city will have seen a lot of xBs zipping in and out of traffic. Its a funky little car... wagon... crossover... whatever, initially designed to target the young "active lifestyle" set but attracting all age groups just the same, due to its roomy interior, low entry price and Toyota-levels of reliability.

That roomy interior has been updated for 2006, with new stylish new seat fabric plus integrated audio controls on the steering wheel. The xBs satellite ready audio system features a single-CD player and MP3 and WMA compatibility, as well as a flap on the center console jack for hooking up an iPod. A Bazooka mono-tube subwoofer is available, turning the tiny people hauler into a serious sound machine.

The cars boxy exterior gets subtle updates too, plus two new paint colors, Salsa Red Pearl and Shadow Mica, to replace Camouflage Green and Black Cherry Pearl. Shadow Mica is a new colour to Scion, while Salsa Red Pearl has been used before.

Considering the updates and additional standard equipment, a $150 increase in the xBs base price, for both manual and optional automatic transmission versions, to $14,030 for the former and $14,830 for the latter, seems quite reasonable.

Production of the mid-2006 models started earlier this month, with the first vehicles arriving at West Coast dealerships towards the end of the month.