It's not uncommon for owners of the late, lamented Geo Metro XFI, which USA Today refers to as "nerdy," to report fuel mileage rivaling and sometimes beating hybrids such as the Toyota Prius. The lightweight structure and very small engines - just three-cylinders and 49 horsepower for the Metro - allow these little runabouts to post great mileage figures. With gas prices at an all-time high, the efficiency of vehicles like the Metro, Ford Fiesta and Apsire and Hyundai Excel is raising their prices to levels sometimes above what they cost new. Don't believe us? Check out this recent eBay auction for a low mileage Metro and see for yourself.

So, should you be running out and purchasing a used fuel-sipper of your very own? Maybe, but consider that these vehicles would not be able to meet the safety regulations required by law today and the fact that they would likely not pass current emissions requirements. Additionally, the fuel savings of these vehicles makes for pretty poor performance. At AutoblogGreen, we're apt to overlook some of these deficiencies in the name of efficiency, but we also recognize that older vehicles such as these can present problems to their future owners. Our advice, therefore, would be to look hard in order to find a good deal if you're really interested in the ultimate in fuel savings, and remember not to discount the first-generation Toyota Prius in your search.

[Source: eBay Motors, U.S. News]

I think we need to credit our own Sam Abuelsamid for predicting this one a month ago. He spotted a Ford Fiesta in Detroit in early March, and thought at the time that the Fiesta might make a good candidate for the then-just-confirmed news that the Mazda2 would be coming to the U.S. (others guessed differently). Last week, Sam's prediction was confirmed, according to Motor Trend. Built using Ford's new consolidated global small car platform team, the vehicle architecture of the next-gen US Ford Fiesta will indeed be the same as on the Mazda2 , and it's headed to the states in 2009, Motor Trend says.

The look of the new Fiesta will not change much from the Euro-version, so if you're an American and you like what you see above, you're in luck (we have a few dozen more images in the high-res gallery). The question now is, of course, how this small car will sell against similar offerings from other automakers (See: Yaris, Fit, etc.). There's certainly demand for these B-segment cars, but how big is that demand? Predictions wanted.





Related:

• Ford merges B-Car teams into one global team out of Europe
• Geneva Motor Show: 2008 Mazda2
• Could the Escort be reborn as the new small Ford?
• Ford confirms that new B-Car will be based on Mazda2

[Source: Motor Trend]