"Pocket-sized" mini-cars: Will they sell in the U.S.?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Zardoz
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There are some small cars like this that I'd buy if they would be sold here. The Honda Fit/Jazz, which is coming here, looks like a great little car. The Brabus Smart cars have gotten good press in the UK car mags I read. The Mitsu Colt CZT I recall getting good reviews as well, but I haven't read a full article on it yet.
Besides the "fun factor", the increased fuel economy is probably the main benefit to cars like this. I'd imagine this would be the main draw to most people.
 
The fun factor should definitely be a bonus. We've had the redesigned Yaris sedan for over a year now, and I see one crashed every month or so due to over-exuberance on the part of the owner. :lol:

Buyers have embraced these cars in the past. The Toyota Corolla, the Honda Civic and other Japanese small cars actually forced US makers to make a stab at competing in the small car market. I think the question now is: How small are American buyers willing to go? And how many will make the jump?

I think everything hinges on the success of the Fit. It's the one subcompact that may actually change people's perceptions on the available space and utility of these vehicles. The Yaris has never been able to convince buyers (much too small inside). The Aveo sells merely because there's almost nothing cheaper. Smarts are just too small for the price and too cramped to make any sense. Sure they get great mileage, but they only carry two people and a paper bag. :lol:

The Colt is nice, and I hope it does well enough in the US to help in Mitsubishi's recovery. Hyundai/Kia have yet to bring their Getz/Picanto to the US. The Picanto is dirt cheap basic transportation on four wheels, and it is the cheapest car to own and maintain, anywhere. You could pick one up for a month's paycheck. The only problem is bringing it up to US crash specs.


It's only recently that the Honda Fit has rewritten the book on interior space in subcompacts and super-minis. While the Fit has as much space as older Civics and Accords, it also weighs about as much as an older Civic (2200 lbs or so), so it really isn't that tiny. I think the revolutionary thing about it is that it manages to make such a small chassis stiff enough to meet stringent new safety laws. That's a definite plus in this day and age, when even "compacts" are pushing close to three thousand pounds.

But I expect the larger size will actually help the sales of compacts in the US, as many buyers move down a notch in size and price and find that the new "compacts" actually drive like midsized cars of a decade ago, but with better fuel mileage.
 
Well the high MPG with little performance loss is going to be a selling point. And considering that the cars really arent that much smaller than the Civic, Corola, Sentra, etc I dont think people are going to complain about the size.

Personally, the Fit is probably be best of the new small cars, followed closely by the Versa and then the Yaris.
 
They will sell, and strangly at the same time casket sales will also increase. I better buy some casket stock.

If an H2 Hummer ran into one of these micro-minis the occupants will die.
 
I really don't think they'll sell, unless a large ammount of people buy them. Think about it, you're at the lights in a Honda Jazz, and suddenly the sun dissappears. Then you realise a chevvy suburban has pulled up beside you. I know i'd feel a bit stupid ...

I don't think it's just that either. Anyone is bound to feel strange buying a smaller car. We felt weird going from an LR Disco to a Freelander. In relative terms, we'd be switching our freelander to a smart fortwo.
 
Jon.
I really don't think they'll sell, unless a large ammount of people buy them.
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You don't say... :)


As someone who rides both a motorcycle and bicycle fairly often, I laugh at anyone who won't buy one because they aren't safe enough :p
 
im crossing my fingers that these things sell well!
i love small cars, they have so much fun to toss around <8- P
i am so stupid.....i did not get any pictures of the Fit while i was at COBO....<X- O
 
Fit is very interesting, too bad there wasn't one at the Portland Auto Show in my town. I didn't make it this year, but I guess they did have Yaris. :ouch:

If a Suburban pulls up next to me, I difinitely wouldn't feel stupid. Way some of those full-size drivers drive and park, they should be driving compacts.
 
Not going to change much down here, we already get plenty of small cars (including the Jazz, Colt and new Yaris etc)
 
JCE3000GT
They will sell, and strangly at the same time casket sales will also increase. I better buy some casket stock.

If an H2 Hummer ran into one of these micro-minis the occupants will die.
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I hope we don't get into a side argument on this, but:

I've seen a number of crashes where Impreza owners have walked away from a horrific crash... also Yaris sedan (Vios) owners. I've also seen body-on-frame SUVs bent like pretzels as the body (not the frame!) crumpled up like a soda can. Anyone remember the Mini-F150 crash test?

I've said this before. The Fit has proven itself in crash tests to be much more rigid and safe than many older (90's) mid-sized and heavier cars. It's a fallacy to think that small =/= safe... any car, if caught between a rock and a hard place, will give. But newer subcompacts and compacts are designed to give in a way that provides a good chance of the owner walking away. Plus, with less inertia and mass, there is less force involved in any crash.
 
VIPERGTSR01
Not going to change much down here, we already get plenty of small cars (including the Jazz, Colt and new Yaris etc)
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What do you think of the Getz? I'm particularly itching to try that one out (it's here, but I haven't had a chance at a test drive)... 110hp 1.5 liter turbodiesel and a tiny body... should be a blast... particularly after some chipping. :)
 
Ive never driven the Getz but I hear its pretty good.
 
Oh America, why couldn't you get into interesting small cars sooner?

the_butterlfly_1106905283_205gti.jpg

94-renault-clio-williams.jpg

Clio%20V6-2.jpg

cityrover-web.jpg


We could have flogged them to you under different names!

Everyone wins!
 
I would buy a Clio, Fit, or Yaris. IF I wasn't in high school. Now I'm not saying these aren't 'cool' and I need to be 'cool', I'm just saying I need to be able to give people rides and I need 4 doors. Otherwise, it's all mine.

Plus, gotta love the MSRP on these cars! A brand-new Yaris is a great deal.
 
very small cars don't sell in the united states. it's a fact of life. people citing the civic as an example of small cars selling are wrong. that car has grown so significantly over the years that it's hardly "small" anymore. furthermore, the smallest variant of that car, the 3-door hatchback, has been entirely wiped off of our market with the exception of a performance variant (si) which sees extremely low sales totals. same with corolla, now sold only as a sedan (formerly a 3-door hatch, 5-door hatch, coupe, and wagon as well).

then consider the small car failures in this country: dodge omni/plymouth horizon, suzuki swift/geo metro, volkswagen golf, pontiac lemans 3-door, etc. and also: consider the intense amount of small cars that aren't sold here because the brands deem them too small for our market - the volvo 440, for instance, or better yet, how about the hatchback version of the toyota echo, which was sent to canada but not the united states where failure was "certain."

small cars don't sell.
 
M5Power
small cars don't sell.
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You are aware Toyota is planning to sell the Yaris here next year, and Honda is bringing the Fit soon after, right? Obviously someone high-up there sees a future for small cars in the US...

However, I don't. Foreigners are the only ones buying small cars in the US. Anyone raised here knows, bigger is better! :lol:
 
Although I would not dissagree with the notion that bigger is better in many cases, I think the "Gen-Y" kids who have grown up playing Gran Turismo and the like would much prefer the smaller, sportier cars that do the same thing as any other Cadillac ElDorado or Oldsmobile Delta 88 could do...

Its a matter of practicality and affordability. This might be a bad example, but, If I can buy a Golf GTI 5-door than can outrun my freinds BMW 325il and I can carry just as much in a smaller package, I'm obviously going to go with the GTI.
 
ultrabeat
Oh America, why couldn't you get into interesting small cars sooner?
cityrover-web.jpg


We could have flogged them to you under different names!

Everyone wins!
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I think you need to be flogged for categorising the city rover as interesting.

Unless you mean interesting as in which bit is going to fall off next interesting.
 
Race Idiot
I think you need to be flogged for categorising the city rover as interesting.

Unless you mean interesting as in which bit is going to fall off next interesting.
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Was that the one that as built in India?
 
skip0110
You are aware Toyota is planning to sell the Yaris here next year, and Honda is bringing the Fit soon after, right? Obviously someone high-up there sees a future for small cars in the US...
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yes i do realise that - and i do not believe they will sell. the toyota certainly will not, and i'm surprised to hear toyota's bringing it here after the disaster that was the echo. the honda might, because hondas don't fail unless they're sporty.

However, I don't. Foreigners are the only ones buying small cars in the US. Anyone raised here knows, bigger is better! :lol:
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i hate to say it, but it's true.
 
M5Power
yes i do realise that - and i do not believe they will sell. the toyota certainly will not, and i'm surprised to hear toyota's bringing it here after the disaster that was the echo.
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I don't think it was just "size" thing with Echo. It was arguably the ugliest car on the market, inside & out. Scion xA = yes. Echo = no.
 
The new Yaris isn't the prettiest thing on the market either IMO.
 
The new Camry/Yaris/Avalon styling is fugly, and I dont know why Toyota decided to get "edgy" with their new styling...
 
i don't think the class that your talking about will ever sell in the US...untill all of the Baby boomer generation is dead in at least another 40 years.

as far as I can determine, there's three things having to do with america's hate-affair with minis

1. the american sense of personal space is HUGE...not cramped by centuries of stuffed continent
2. micros sent over by europe have a reputation for being total crap. the last attempt was by Yugo...a crappy fiat assembled by an Iron Curtian country...which means no budget or much of anything else.
3. americans are physically larger than the rest world, apparently...and that includes height as well as the reputation we have for being fatarses

the thing is...even big is dying, now. Americans are finally tired of huge land yaghts...and that's starting to include minivans.

i don't personally think that there's going to be a small car revolution in the US untill someone pulls the kind of Gas Rationing that occured during WW2...something like 3 gallons a WEEK on the low end
 

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