SPECIAL EARTH DAY DOUBLE ISSUE - AutoWeek
SPECIAL EARTH DAY DOUBLE ISSUE - AutoWeek
SPECIAL EARTH DAY DOUBLE ISSUE - AutoWeek
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thegreenissue<br />
is correct. Sales of Mini, Fit,<br />
Aveo, Toyota Yaris, Kia Rio<br />
and Nissan Versa (by dimensions<br />
more of a C-car) increased<br />
30 percent in 2007,<br />
and they’ve increased another<br />
60 percent in the first two<br />
months of 2008. Yet B-cars<br />
still make up less than 4 percent<br />
of the U.S. car and lighttruck<br />
market, no matter how<br />
you cut the segments. The<br />
odds are that they’ll be anything<br />
but a fairly small niche<br />
over the next several years.<br />
For starters, Americans<br />
have yet to shake their general<br />
distaste for hatchbacks (one<br />
reason Ford is developing a<br />
four-door Fiesta sedan aimed<br />
at the States). While B-cars<br />
tend to be good fun to drive,<br />
our preference for automatics<br />
works against that. Further,<br />
familiar small C-cars such as<br />
the Corolla, the Focus and the<br />
Chevy Cobalt tend to sell<br />
here on price. The price drop<br />
to smaller B-cars isn’t significant<br />
enough, nor is the<br />
mileage improvement big<br />
22 AUTOWEEK APRIL 21, 2008<br />
enough, to overcome perceptions<br />
of cramped interiors or<br />
limited utility.<br />
Some analysts say gas will<br />
have to reach $4.50 a gallon<br />
before B-cars get significant<br />
mainstream traction. George<br />
Peterson, president of the<br />
research firm AutoPacific,<br />
notes that while car buyers<br />
express increasing anger over<br />
the price of gas, their vehicular<br />
purchases are slow to reflect<br />
it. AutoPacific’s surveys<br />
include a standard question<br />
that asks if bigger is better.<br />
Respondents still overwhelmingly<br />
say yes.<br />
“In our culture, [B-cars] say<br />
you don’t care about cars or<br />
what you drive, or you can’t<br />
afford anything better,” says<br />
Peterson. “The Mini has sort<br />
of broken that mold, and the<br />
Fit has developed a rabid following.<br />
The Fiesta could do the<br />
same thing in a bigger way.”<br />
Many of us remember the<br />
original Fiesta, the first U.S.<br />
B-car, launched here in 1978<br />
during the era of oil embar-<br />
goes. That German-built Ford<br />
came with air conditioning<br />
(not offered elsewhere) and a<br />
U.S.-specific 1.6-liter four<br />
from the larger Escort. Seven<br />
generations and 12 million<br />
global sales later, the Fiesta is<br />
coming back.<br />
The Verve sedan shown<br />
at this year’s Detroit show<br />
should be a spitting image of<br />
our Fiesta. Dimensionally, it’s<br />
about a foot shorter than a Fit,<br />
on a slightly longer wheelbase<br />
and two feet shorter than a<br />
Versa hatchback. Yet Ford<br />
promises an inordinate<br />
amount of high-strength,<br />
boron- and dual-phase steel in<br />
the Fiesta unibody, compared<br />
with its international competitors.<br />
The company claims<br />
the Fiesta will be the strongest,<br />
most rigid car in its class yet<br />
lighter than the previous generation<br />
and the competition.<br />
Often lauded as one of the<br />
more dynamically pleasing<br />
cars in its category, the Fiesta<br />
will retain its familiar frontstrut,<br />
rear-twist-beam suspen-<br />
sion. Ford isn’t talking about<br />
powertrains for the States, but<br />
the likely choice is the most<br />
powerful of five engines<br />
offered in Europe: a new<br />
1.6-liter, 115-hp gasoline four<br />
with variable intake valve<br />
timing.<br />
Ford also promises biggercar<br />
safety and convenience,<br />
with features such as knee<br />
airbags, full stability control,<br />
keyless start and Sync-style<br />
voice commands with<br />
Bluetooth. Still, the Fiesta’s<br />
big pitch likely will be standout<br />
styling and a high-quality<br />
cabin. The cell-phone-like<br />
center stack in the Verve<br />
concept carries over to the<br />
production Fiesta, which was<br />
shown at Geneva in March.<br />
In short, Ford hopes the<br />
Fiesta will generate something<br />
little cars rarely have in<br />
the States: appeal. Appeal, if<br />
not lust, is the first requisite<br />
of what industry analysts call<br />
an image compact.<br />
Image compacts are almost<br />
the antithesis of small car as