Scion/Toyota beat 'em to market. Again.
C’mon...just get the Volt to us faster.
Scion/Toyota beat 'em to market. Again.
I say bring it and bring it now, and build it here. I would drive a shoebox on local streets if it means I would save dollars on the gas bill. As far as interstate travel goes, I just dont feel safe in mini cars on them.
It is not as if GM does not have the manufacturing capability to get the vehicle built - they have HUGE plants in China and Brazil, where these mini-cars can be constructed and shipped, all without the UAW imprimatur.
Which means, that the UAW deal with the Generous Motors management dies with the current generation, and as they die off, the burden of the “lifetime” medical care gets lighter and lighter. GM is transformed into a totally global corporation, with no incentive to EVER return the manufacturing base to the US.
What the heck, the Chinese might even take more pride in building a quality product than even the Japanese. And they can do it cheaper, the advantage the Japanese traded on for years.
Those things are about the size of a coffin...how morbidly convenient.
Toyota, Honda and Nissan targeted the SUV, mid size, luxury and truck markets, but they never forgot about the small car market. They continued to produce high quality vehicles for that segment and now they are ready to take advantage of the huge demand for small fuel efficient vehicles. A good example is Honda, which is going to boost their US bound production of the popular subcompact Fit from 60,000 units to 80,000 units for the 09 model.
I would hate to see any the US auto makers go under, but they have to make better decisions if they they expect to survive.
So how are they going to pass the safety tests to put these go-karts on the road?
Should have been done TEN YEARS AGO.
Get with it, GM.
BMW Isetta (1950s)
Messerschmidt (1950s)
Peraves Ecomobiles, which are really motorcycles (Present)
There are several things a mini-car has to have to be successful in the US.
The very first, #1 thing is that it has to be big enough inside for Americans, which means an average height of 5’10” to 6’2” and weight of 150-250 pounds. In turn, the cab has to be higher off the ground. And this means a wider wheel base for stability during turns, unless they incorporate gyroscopic stabilizers, which may not be as silly as it sounds. Such stabilizers have even been used experimentally on motorcycles.
While bucket seats are all the rage, the dang things are impossible for big people in smaller cars. But right now there aren’t too many choices of small cars with bench seats. Like none.
To get away with this, most likely the car will be limited to two passengers and a cargo area. And that will be a harder sell than a four person car.
If I’m going to ride a motorcycle, I’d just as soon have a real one...
The problem with these kind of cars, and the reason companies are reluctant to sell them here, is that Americans only like these kind of cars when gas is expensive. The minute we start thinking gas is cheap again (whether it’s actually cheap or we’ve just gotten used to the cost) we dump economy cars like small pox laden blankets and the car companies are stuck with a bunch of stock they can’t sell and factories that need to be converted back to SUV building.
All the vehicles in this picture, get a whole lot better mileage than anything we drive... cheaper too.
(excepting perhaps that bus, way in the back of the frame - though it's still better mileage and cost, per passenger)
The Peel P50, from The Isle of Man.no.
altho’ i’ve always driven smaller vehicles my sense is that most americans
like large cars and trucks.