By Josef Tate

 There is starting to be a new meaning to the phrase "curb appeal." Traditionally, when you hear that phrase, you think of home improvement shows and real estate, but it's starting to mean something totally new for the automotive industry.


The idea behind curb appeal started when real estate professionals began creating a "best practices" approach to selling homes. One thing they immediately noticed was that homes with a nice exterior always attract more potential buyers, so they began telling home owners to make small investments in the landscaping and exterior of the home to increase its value, and to get that all-important good first impression. If the first impression is a positive one, then the whole experience of viewing the home tends to be favorable.

It didn't take long for this phenomenon to catch on in other areas too. Take for instance the automotive industry. Scion was the first to adapt this new approach to selling cars by creating a full line of add-on accessories to ramp up the appeal to a younger, more mobile demographic. As it turns out, that once

Read more: The New "Curb Appeal" - And We're Talking Cars