DETROIT — With the economy crashing, Americans are tightening their belts and automakers are ready to sell them smaller pants.
On Sunday at Detroit's auto show, General Motors Corp. revealed the Spark, a tiny two-door hatchback that the company says will get 40 miles a gallon and will be in the market by 2011. Toyota Motor Corp. announced plans to introduce, by 2012, its own pint-sized hatchback, the FT-EV, based on its iQ model, that will run entirely on battery power.
Add those to a host of other recently announced, city-oriented mini-cars, including offerings from Ford Motor Co., Nissan Motor Co. and Mitsubishi Motors Corp. that are expected to arrive in the U.S. in the next few years. All together, it's a clear indication that the move toward smaller cars that first emerged last summer, when gasoline prices peaked at more than $4, is picking up speed.
The idea, auto executives say, is to bring consumers a vehicle ideal for urban audiences, and, not coincidentally, beef up fuel-efficiency numbers to meet increasingly tough government regulations. The trend is emphasized by the success of the SmartCar and especially BMW's Mini, which was one of the only brands to show a net sales gain in 2008.
But some analysts suggest that betting on tiny transportation has significant risks.
Although undersized cars have found great success in markets such as Europe and Asia, where gas prices are high and city streets congested, the bulk of the U.S. market has a long-standing tendency to choose larger vehicles whenever possible. The littlest cars, some fear, may appeal to very few consumers.
"The issue here is that there hasn't been a lot of demand for these vehicles," said Jeremy Anwyl, chief executive of Edmunds.com, arguing that the success of such vehicles depends heavily on gasoline prices rising again. "These are vehicles that will sell only 10,000 or 20,000 units unless we see $4 gas again."
Many in the industry disagree, saying that the time is almost ripe for such vehicles. Tastes for cars shifted dramatically last summer, and the small-car category was the only one that saw growth in U.S. sales last year. And with federal fuel-economy requirements set to push average fuel economy up to 35 miles per gallon by 2020, getting highly efficient cars on the road is big priority.
What's more, automakers can bring microcars to market at relatively low cost, since they already have developed the platforms for foreign markets, where they often sell extremely well.
