http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll...TO04/803030375
Quote:
Christine Tierney / The Detroit News
General Motors Corp. and Ford Motor Co. have made cool, smartly equipped little cars such as GM's Opel Tigra and the Ford Ka for Europeans for years, but Detroit executives were reluctant to offer them at home.
Sophisticated small cars may be ideal for Europeans living in old cities with narrow streets, the thinking went, but Americans associate luxury with spaciousness.
. . .
High gas prices have fueled a surge in U.S. sales of subcompacts, or B-cars, a small category dominated by inexpensive Asian-built or Asian-brand cars, such as the Toyota Yaris and Chevrolet Aveo. In 2007, subcompact sales rose 20 percent in the United States to around 350,000 cars.
Auto experts say there is even more demand for premium, or what they call aspirational, small cars that offer more than just affordability and fuel savings.
"We're seeing a lot of people interested in fuel economy or in adding a secondary vehicle to their household fleet," said Art Spinella, president of CNW Marketing Research Inc. in Bandon, Ore. "The problem with B-cars is that they've tended to be cheap."
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Art Spinella and the rest of the hybrid skeptics are notorious for comparing Prius to his favorite, "Chevrolet Aveo." It is why even now we have the occasional troll who tries to pawn off some rubbish car with none of the Prius creature comforts as "equal to a Prius." No problem $3/gal gas has pretty well shut them down.
When gas reaches $4/gal, I have no doubt these same hypocrites will argue from the other side of their mouths that hybrids make a lot of sense. Hopefully, I'll be fully involved in my next generation hybrid experiments and won't have time to do anything but briefly smile and turn back to the bench.
Bob Wilson