Thursday, July 14, 2011

All You'll want to Know About Small Automobiles

By Antonio Straussert


It is been a while because the sub-compact automobile market has garnered such attention in North America. Our pals in Europe have always recognized the virtues of tiny vehicles.

But here in North America, SUV's have dominated parking lots at the local Pier 1 for a lot more than a decade. However as present gas prices inch forward and with future prices searching uncertain (they're definitely going to be increased than these days) more folks are purchasing small, fuel-efficient cars. We've seen a lot of activity inside the phase recently.

Toyota has introduced the Yaris, Hyundai has considerably revised the Accent, Kia has updated the Rio, Honda has launched the Suit, and Nissan will introduce the Versa in May of this year. And let's not forget Scion with the xA and xB. Getting a car within the sub-compact market makes sense to get a variety of factors. First, it introduces new, young purchasers to the model.

If their encounter is excellent they'll stick with all the model as they grow up and move to a larger vehicle. Toyota, Honda, Hyundai, Kia, Nissan, Volkswagen, Mazda and other folks all got their start in the sub-compact vehicle market. Secondly, it provides a safety net throughout economic downturns. If gasoline costs rise unexpectedly, the knee-jerk reaction is to get a small, much more fuel-efficient vehicle. And these cars are fuel-efficient. The brand new Honda Fit for instance, gets an estimated 33 miles per gallon in the city, 38 mpg on the highway. Tiny automobiles provide couple of compromises. But these are no one-show ponies. Beyond fuel efficiency they offer respectable performance. The Toyota Yaris has 106 horsepower which may not sound like much, but tipping the scales at only 2315 lbs, it has a power-to-weight ratio close to that of the 220 horsepower Hummer H3. And these cars can carry just about anything. Using the rear seats up, the Honda Fit can swallow 21.3 cubic ft of gear. A Ford Crown Victoria by comparison can hold 20.6 cubic feet worth of cargo within the trunk.

The domestics haven't invested much in tiny automobiles recently, if ever. The Chevrolet Aveo is basically a re-badged Daewoo and doesn't provide the level of refinement as the other folks. The Ford Focus is bigger and more expensive, as is the brand new for '06 Dodge Caliber. But with the uncertainty of gas prices and growing competition in the segment, GM, Ford, and DaimlerChrysler would be wise to offer aggressive offering in this segment and introduce 1st time buyers to their respective brands. For most manufacturers, having aggressive sub-compact vehicles has grown the business and developed model loyalty, some thing the folks in Detroit have been attempting to do for a while now.




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