{"id":535220,"date":"2010-04-19T17:41:00","date_gmt":"2010-04-19T21:41:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.autoblog.com\/2010\/04\/19\/the-detroitbureau-com-on-autoblog-with-paul-eisenstein\/"},"modified":"2010-04-19T17:41:00","modified_gmt":"2010-04-19T21:41:00","slug":"the-detroitbureau-com-on-autoblog-with-paul-eisenstein","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/535220","title":{"rendered":"The DetroitBureau.com on Autoblog with Paul Eisenstein"},"content":{"rendered":"

Filed under: Car Buying<\/a>, Budget<\/a>, Sedan<\/a>, Hatchback<\/a><\/p>\n

Betting on small cars…<\/big><\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>My friend, Sam, is your classic Texan. Big home, big pool, big personality and, of course, a big car, a Chevrolet Silverado<\/a> pickup that he uses a couple times a year to haul lumber and yard supplies from the local mega-mart. But most of the time he’s sitting in Dallas traffic, running up big gas bills.<\/p>\n

And that’s got Sam thinking about whether he really needs all that much of a truck. The last couple weeks he’s been stopping by the local mega-auto mall – where, as you’d expect, they carry just about every brand of car – looking at a number of alternatives, all of them a lot smaller. A classic Chevy truck fan, he’s leaning towards the new Equinox<\/a>, though he could easily afford something more lavish.<\/p>\n

When even Texans are starting to downsize, one has to ask what’s going on in the American automotive market. “There is an opportunity in small cars,” that General Motors<\/a> hopes to exploit, says CEO Ed Whitacre, with an assortment of new products such as the pint-sized 2011 Chevrolet Spark<\/a>. His counterpart at Ford<\/a>, Alan Mulally, echoes that view, and has ordered up a variety of new models, including the subcompact Fiesta<\/a> and the next-generation Focus<\/a>. <\/p>\n

Import brands are already invested in the small car segments, with models like the Honda Fit<\/a> and Toyota Yaris<\/a>. Even highline makers are downsizing, with offerings such as the Mini<\/a> and the BMW 1-Series<\/a>.<\/p>\n

In a nation that has long felt that big is better, why is small suddenly beautiful? The first sign that things might be shifting came in mid-2008, when U.S. fuel prices soared to record level triggering, in turn, a collapse in sales of pickups and sport-utility vehicles. The trend was short-lived, however. Even before pump prices started slipping back, small car sales began to wane.<\/p>\n

So, why is the industry betting so big on small cars now? For one thing, most expect gasoline prices to reach $4 a gallon in the long-term. Meanwhile, tough new federal fuel economy standards also press the industry to downsize.<\/p>\n

\nPaul A. Eisenstein is Publisher of TheDetroitBureau.com<\/a>, and a 30-year veteran of the automotive beat. His editorials bring his unique perspective and deep understanding of the auto world to Autoblog readers on a regular basis.<\/em><\/p>\n
\n

Continue reading The DetroitBureau.com on Autoblog with Paul Eisenstein<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

The DetroitBureau.com on Autoblog with Paul Eisenstein<\/a> originally appeared on Autoblog<\/a> on Mon, 19 Apr 2010 16:41:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds<\/a>.<\/p>\n

<\/h6>\n

Permalink<\/a> | Email this<\/a> | Comments<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Filed under: Car Buying, Budget, Sedan, Hatchback Betting on small cars… My friend, Sam, is your classic Texan. Big home, big pool, big personality and, of course, a big car, a Chevrolet Silverado pickup that he uses a couple times a year to haul lumber and yard supplies from the local mega-mart. But most of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5226,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-535220","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/535220","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5226"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=535220"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/535220\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=535220"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=535220"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=535220"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}