Toyota to take wraps off bold experiment in summer.

Byline: Matt Nauman

Next summer, and only in California at first, Toyota will unveil its bold experiment to shake its image as the baby boomer automaker.

Called Scion, it'll be Toyota's third brand in America, joining populist Toyota and elitist Lexus. This one, Toyota promises, will be different.

It has to be, says Jim Lentz, the middle-aged Toyota executive pegged to head Scion. That's because the next generation of car buyers, the so-called Generation Y group born between 1977 and 1995, aren't likely to be Toyota lovers.

Instead they're heading for brands like Honda and VW with a little more cool quotient.

Toyota's response is Scion.

How different will Scion be? Some details remain sketchy, as the first cars won't go on sale until June in California. The rest of the country won't see Scions until February and June of 2004.

But, Lentz said, the Scion brand will feature different products, a different sales process and a different sales environment.

Scion will start out with two products. …