SPECIAL EARTH DAY DOUBLE ISSUE - AutoWeek

More documents

Recommendations

Info

thegreenissue is correct. Sales of Mini, Fit, Aveo, Toyota Yaris, Kia Rio and Nissan Versa (by dimensions more of a C-car) increased 30 percent in 2007, and they’ve increased another 60 percent in the first two months of 2008. Yet B-cars still make up less than 4 percent of the U.S. car and lighttruck market, no matter how you cut the segments. The odds are that they’ll be anything but a fairly small niche over the next several years. For starters, Americans have yet to shake their general distaste for hatchbacks (one reason Ford is developing a four-door Fiesta sedan aimed at the States). While B-cars tend to be good fun to drive, our preference for automatics works against that. Further, familiar small C-cars such as the Corolla, the Focus and the Chevy Cobalt tend to sell here on price. The price drop to smaller B-cars isn’t significant enough, nor is the mileage improvement big 22 AUTOWEEK APRIL 21, 2008 enough, to overcome perceptions of cramped interiors or limited utility. Some analysts say gas will have to reach $4.50 a gallon before B-cars get significant mainstream traction. George Peterson, president of the research firm AutoPacific, notes that while car buyers express increasing anger over the price of gas, their vehicular purchases are slow to reflect it. AutoPacific’s surveys include a standard question that asks if bigger is better. Respondents still overwhelmingly say yes. “In our culture, [B-cars] say you don’t care about cars or what you drive, or you can’t afford anything better,” says Peterson. “The Mini has sort of broken that mold, and the Fit has developed a rabid following. The Fiesta could do the same thing in a bigger way.” Many of us remember the original Fiesta, the first U.S. B-car, launched here in 1978 during the era of oil embar- goes. That German-built Ford came with air conditioning (not offered elsewhere) and a U.S.-specific 1.6-liter four from the larger Escort. Seven generations and 12 million global sales later, the Fiesta is coming back. The Verve sedan shown at this year’s Detroit show should be a spitting image of our Fiesta. Dimensionally, it’s about a foot shorter than a Fit, on a slightly longer wheelbase and two feet shorter than a Versa hatchback. Yet Ford promises an inordinate amount of high-strength, boron- and dual-phase steel in the Fiesta unibody, compared with its international competitors. The company claims the Fiesta will be the strongest, most rigid car in its class yet lighter than the previous generation and the competition. Often lauded as one of the more dynamically pleasing cars in its category, the Fiesta will retain its familiar frontstrut, rear-twist-beam suspen- sion. Ford isn’t talking about powertrains for the States, but the likely choice is the most powerful of five engines offered in Europe: a new 1.6-liter, 115-hp gasoline four with variable intake valve timing. Ford also promises biggercar safety and convenience, with features such as knee airbags, full stability control, keyless start and Sync-style voice commands with Bluetooth. Still, the Fiesta’s big pitch likely will be standout styling and a high-quality cabin. The cell-phone-like center stack in the Verve concept carries over to the production Fiesta, which was shown at Geneva in March. In short, Ford hopes the Fiesta will generate something little cars rarely have in the States: appeal. Appeal, if not lust, is the first requisite of what industry analysts call an image compact. Image compacts are almost the antithesis of small car as
commodity. The first one might have been the original Beetle, at least in some corners. The first Rabbit GTi fit the mold, as do the more recently introduced New Beetle and PT Cruiser. All appealed to some beyond their smallcar utility. Toyota’s Prius, for example, probably appeals for the image it creates as much as for its hybrid technology. The current king of image compacts, at least among enthusiasts, is the Mini. Buyers care less that these cars are inexpensive or economical to operate and more that they want the car. “The Mini has shown you can give little cars a premium brand,” says Jim Hall, managing partner at the industry analysis firm 2953 Analytics. “B-cars will have to build a similar impact on a broader scale if sales are going to grow here substantially. They’ll need a tremendous amount of character, either through dynamics or styling. Buyers expect a payback beyond good mileage or the entry price.” Ford’s marketing boss contends that the Fiesta is there. “The feedback from [the Detroit show] was overwhelmingly good—the look, the craftsmanship inside,” Felice says. “Everything seemed to strike a positive chord, and we know what this car does dynamically. We see Fiesta as a vehicle to aspire to, rather than a vehicle people have to buy for the fuel economy or the price.” Of course, the unidentified element behind this could-be wave of little cars is new CAFE legislation. A bill signed by President Bush in December 2007 raises a manufacturer’s fleet average at least 40 percent by 2020, to 35 mpg. It also gives the federal bureaucracy more teeth to enforce—and raise—the standard without legislative intervention. While car companies still will be able to buy their way out with a gas-guzzler tax, that will be more difficult than it has been in the last three decades. Those companies will have to demonstrate that they made a genuine effort to meet the standard and failed. The new CAFE is anything but a slam-dunk. And for all the talk of plug-in hybrids, E85 and other alternative fuels, petroleum will remain the backbone of personal transportation at least through 2020. No carmaker wants to be forced to manage its mix or to try to manipulate the market based on its production capacity or to raise the price of less fuel-efficient vehicles to the point where no one buys them. Which brings us back to B-cars. As auto companies ponder their prospects under new U.S. CAFE rules (sweating at least a little), how can they overlook an option that’s well developed and in demand just about everywhere else in the world? To that end, and our bene- fit, carmakers will sweeten the pot, with more vehicles based on a B-class footprint that add interior volume, performance and appeal. Beyond the new, stretched Mini Clubman, BMW is developing a Mini-based crossover in the mold of its X3. Volkswagen America CEO Stefan Jacoby says his company is considering a range of B-class VWs for North America, starting at about $13,000 dollars and powered by a turbocharged 1.4-liter four. Even smaller A-class cars can’t be far behind. The Smart car is here, and GM has raised the prospect of an A-car for the United States based on its Beat concept. Moving up from the small end, analysts expect B-carsized, direct-injected turbo engines (1.2 to 1.4 liters) in larger cars such as the Civic, the Cobalt and the Saturn Astra. Those at the Detroit show saw Audi’s dieselpowered R8 supercar and heard executives talking about full-size, four-cylinder pickups and SUVs. Enthusiasts may bemoan the politics of CAFE or the effect the environmental movement has on their lifestyle, but the prospects are interesting. And remembering that the original Fiesta lasted only three model years in the States, we can be sure that many of these prospects will fail. “The possibilities are fascinating,” says analyst Hall. “We are heading into the decade of big changes, big introductions and big mistakes.” c IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII OTHER B-LIEVERS The Mini, the Aveo and the Fit (along with the Toyota Yaris, the Kia Rio and the Nissan Versa) saw sales rise 30 percent in 2007. > MINI COOPER > CHEVY AVEO > HONDA FIT APRIL 21, 2008 AUTOWEEK 23
Page 1 and 2: SPECIAL EARTH DAY DOUBLE ISSUE Elec
Page 3: WANNA B? FORD’S COMING FIESTA, A
Page 7 and 8: the early ’90s, the mpg top dog w
Page 9 and 10: seats and instrumentation were far
Page 11 and 12: six-foot-tall adults—two more tha
Page 13 and 14: IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII
Page 15 and 16: Still, it seems fairly obvious that
Page 21 and 22: WE’VE HAD PLENTY of experience in
Page 23 and 24: PHOTOGAL ENTERPRISES with a plug—
Page 25 and 26: CABBAGE SAVER CHEVY’S MALIBU HYBR
Page 27 and 28: Audi says there is a 50/50 chance t
Page 29: Carolyn Coquillette (below) opened

SPECIAL EARTH DAY DOUBLE ISSUE - AutoWeek

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

Delete template?

Save as template?