Analog
Lifer
In America, $2-a-gallon gas is still new, and consumers are lining up for a car called the Toyota Prius that will get an honest 44 miles per gallon.
But in Europe, where gas costs more than $5 a gallon, two bucks is a laugh and a 44-mpg car is no big deal.
In fact, some minicar mileage champs--mere dwarfs compared with what Americans think of as a small car--squeeze nearly 70 miles out of each gallon.
Americans will get a sampling of these cars during the next few years as DaimlerChrysler AG's Smart unit, Volkswagen AG's Audi, BMW and other automakers test the waters here with cars much smaller and thus more fuel-efficient than they offer now.
For the most part, though, the best ones aren't even sold here, and Americans and Europeans are likely to remain an ocean apart when it comes to small, fuel-efficient cars.
The reason: Americans don't want to give up the horsepower and safety of larger cars, and both buyers and regulators remain skeptical of the diesel engines that power some of the minicars.
In Europe, high taxes on gasoline that are designed to encourage conservation work like a charm: Consumers in Europe drive smaller, more fuel-efficient and often much less powerful cars than do most Americans, but they can choose from a wide variety. Some are quite stylish.
Smallest probably is the two-seater Smart ForTwo, sold in Canada as well as in Europe. At just 98.4 inches long, it's shorter than many other mincars.
It's nearly 4 feet shorter than a BMW Mini Cooper and way shorter than other Lilliputians such as the Mazda Miata, Honda Insight and Chevrolet Aveo. It claims to get almost 70 mpg.
But, like many of Europe's high-mileage cars, the Smart ForTwo has a diesel engine. It's much more economical than gasoline, and diesel powers about 45 percent of all models in Europe. But in America diesel is reserved mostly for heavy trucks. In fact, diesel cars can't even be registered in some states, such as California, because of state clean air requirements.
Many of the world's most fuel-efficient cars are from automakers that don't even try to sell the vehicles here, including France's Peugeot/Citroen and Renault, Japan's Daihatsu, Skoda of the Czech Republic and Tata of India.
But many of the other mileage champs abroad are sold here as well, usually under different names and often with different, less fuel-efficient powertrain choices than those in the lower-powered European models.
To be sure, the gap between what Americans drive and what Europeans drive has narrowed considerably in the decades since the shock of the OPEC oil embargo of 1973-74.
Still, attempts since then to interest Americans in diesel engines for cars largely have fallen flat; the engines tend to be noisier, smokier and less peppy than gasoline models.
Attempts to interest Americans in very small gasoline cars with very good fuel economy haven't been much more successful. The Subaru Justy, Ford Festiva and Aspire, and Geo Sprint/Chevrolet Metro all were weak sellers and are gone.
Art Spinella, president of CNW Marketing Research in Bandon, Ore., said fewer than a third of American car buyers consider fuel economy an important factor in their decisions as opposed to engine power He said his company has found little change in diesel attitudes.
"Smelly, smoky, noisy," Spinella said.
U.S. environmentalists don't like diesels, either, because of the soot and other pollutants, but Ron Cogan of the California-based Green Car Group said today's models are different.
"The small cars marketed in the past were soulless cars," he said. "They didn't speak to people."
He said cars like Toyota Motor Co.p.'s Prius and BMW's gasoline-powered Mini Cooper offer proof that well-equipped, well-designed small cars will find buyers in America.
One who agrees is Scott Keogh, general manager of Smart Cars U.S.A., which plans to begin importing a Brazilian-made Smart model in 2006.
The Smart ForeMore can seat four, and is much larger than the ForTwo. It is intended to compete with small sport utility vehicles such as the Toyota RAV4.
"I think we're seeing a trend now," Keogh said, "that small cars are becoming cool."
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But in Europe, where gas costs more than $5 a gallon, two bucks is a laugh and a 44-mpg car is no big deal.
In fact, some minicar mileage champs--mere dwarfs compared with what Americans think of as a small car--squeeze nearly 70 miles out of each gallon.
Americans will get a sampling of these cars during the next few years as DaimlerChrysler AG's Smart unit, Volkswagen AG's Audi, BMW and other automakers test the waters here with cars much smaller and thus more fuel-efficient than they offer now.
For the most part, though, the best ones aren't even sold here, and Americans and Europeans are likely to remain an ocean apart when it comes to small, fuel-efficient cars.
The reason: Americans don't want to give up the horsepower and safety of larger cars, and both buyers and regulators remain skeptical of the diesel engines that power some of the minicars.
In Europe, high taxes on gasoline that are designed to encourage conservation work like a charm: Consumers in Europe drive smaller, more fuel-efficient and often much less powerful cars than do most Americans, but they can choose from a wide variety. Some are quite stylish.
Smallest probably is the two-seater Smart ForTwo, sold in Canada as well as in Europe. At just 98.4 inches long, it's shorter than many other mincars.
It's nearly 4 feet shorter than a BMW Mini Cooper and way shorter than other Lilliputians such as the Mazda Miata, Honda Insight and Chevrolet Aveo. It claims to get almost 70 mpg.
But, like many of Europe's high-mileage cars, the Smart ForTwo has a diesel engine. It's much more economical than gasoline, and diesel powers about 45 percent of all models in Europe. But in America diesel is reserved mostly for heavy trucks. In fact, diesel cars can't even be registered in some states, such as California, because of state clean air requirements.
Many of the world's most fuel-efficient cars are from automakers that don't even try to sell the vehicles here, including France's Peugeot/Citroen and Renault, Japan's Daihatsu, Skoda of the Czech Republic and Tata of India.
But many of the other mileage champs abroad are sold here as well, usually under different names and often with different, less fuel-efficient powertrain choices than those in the lower-powered European models.
To be sure, the gap between what Americans drive and what Europeans drive has narrowed considerably in the decades since the shock of the OPEC oil embargo of 1973-74.
Still, attempts since then to interest Americans in diesel engines for cars largely have fallen flat; the engines tend to be noisier, smokier and less peppy than gasoline models.
Attempts to interest Americans in very small gasoline cars with very good fuel economy haven't been much more successful. The Subaru Justy, Ford Festiva and Aspire, and Geo Sprint/Chevrolet Metro all were weak sellers and are gone.
Art Spinella, president of CNW Marketing Research in Bandon, Ore., said fewer than a third of American car buyers consider fuel economy an important factor in their decisions as opposed to engine power He said his company has found little change in diesel attitudes.
"Smelly, smoky, noisy," Spinella said.
U.S. environmentalists don't like diesels, either, because of the soot and other pollutants, but Ron Cogan of the California-based Green Car Group said today's models are different.
"The small cars marketed in the past were soulless cars," he said. "They didn't speak to people."
He said cars like Toyota Motor Co.p.'s Prius and BMW's gasoline-powered Mini Cooper offer proof that well-equipped, well-designed small cars will find buyers in America.
One who agrees is Scott Keogh, general manager of Smart Cars U.S.A., which plans to begin importing a Brazilian-made Smart model in 2006.
The Smart ForeMore can seat four, and is much larger than the ForTwo. It is intended to compete with small sport utility vehicles such as the Toyota RAV4.
"I think we're seeing a trend now," Keogh said, "that small cars are becoming cool."
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