click the Toyota iQ for high res gallery

With the rather healthy sales numbers currently being posted by the smart fortwo in the U.S., Toyota seems very excited about the prospect of offering its iQ here. Still, the tiny car will be launched first in Japan, followed by Europe at the beginning of next year. High gas prices seem likely to sway Toyota to consider the diminutive machine for America, though. According to chief engineer Hiroki Nakajima, Toyota's iQ could be a bit higher than smart's, as the Japanese model will feature two extra seats and should post better fuel economy numbers. Like the smart, though, it will be priced more in line with the current crop of small cars and is not meant to undercut them in price. Instead, the iQ is to offer a premium driving experience.

In Europe, the iQ will be offered with a 1.4 liter diesel engine. If the model ever makes it over here, count on either the 1.0 or 1.3 liter gasoline engine underhood. If that does indeed happen, will we ever get tired of making ridiculous puns about the iQ and smart names? Nah.


[Source: Automotive News - sub. req'd]

You know all those European vehicles that we complain we don't get here in the U.S.? Diesels or not, we shouldn't be holding our breath that there will be a great influx any time soon. BusinessWeek tells us that the weak greenback is (surprise) making European vehicles even less profitable in the U.S. Even though, overall, small cars were the big winner in May auto sales in America, Volvo, Volkswagen and BMW all sold fewer small models (excluding the MINI). BusinessWeek calls it a head-scratcher, then explains that the Europeans are limiting supply because these vehicles aren't profitable. You can see some of the exact price matchups in the original article

One obvious question to ask is whether we'll now see more small car production move to the U.S.? This is something that has been happening for a while, and even holdouts like Volvo are thinking of moving production here.

[Source: BusinessWeek]

If you have €1,000 burning a hole in your pocket you could pick up a copy of a new report from Research and Markets about the future of the car market. Or you could look at the rising price of oil, traffic patterns in places like New Delhi and Beijing and come to the same conclusions yourself. The study projects that small cars will lead the global car market in the next decade. Given that sales in North America have been stagnant for several years and likely to remain so for the foreseeable future, growth is obviously going to come from developing markets like India and China. Those two countries already have huge problems with congestion. China, as we know, also has a bit of an issue with air quality. Everyone, including the U.S., will have to deal with increased costs of fuel. All that adds up to small, more efficient vehicles taking an increasingly large share of the market and very likely to become the biggest segment globally. Remember, you could go buy the report that says all this with figures and charts; your choice.

[Source: The Auto Channel]

Wall Street Journal recently wrote a very positive article about small cars. The article is titled Tiny Cars Make It Big and starts off by saying "Finally, small is gaining some critical mass. After decades of lackluster sales in the bigger-is-better U.S. auto market, tiny cars are surging in popularity -- even as the overall auto industry declines." The Journal article includes a video (above) where a reporter goes to a construction site and asks construction workers if they would buy and they seemed open to the idea.

BMW's 1-Series, Verve, Mini Clubman, Yaris, Fit and Aveo were also mentioned in the article. There were also several comments in the video about the safety of the the Smart, which is expected to get a 4/5 star rating in government crash tests. As automakers try to reach the new 35 MPG CAFE standard and Americans become more concerned with fuel economy and the environment, our cars will get smaller. The question still remains, are we ready for small cars?

[Source: Wall Street Journal]

Bob Lutz often makes a lot of sense. The GM vice chairman is saying the right things about the Chevy Volt and where GM is going in the future, but there's a line in this story from Automotive News (subs req'd) that doesn't make sense to me. Apparently, while speaking at the Automotive News World Congress yesterday, Lutz said that, "We refuse to let the price of fuel rise gradually in the United States and therefore we fail to induce change in consumer behavior." Huh? The last time I checked, the price of gas has risen gradually, especially since the mid-1990s. That's what the DOE says, anyway, as you can see in the graph after the jump. What's it like at your pump?

Now, in a discussion of long-term prices, Lutz has a point. The real cost of gas today is just under what it cost in the late 1970s. And I certainly cannot disagree with him when he says that European-level gas prices (~$8 a gallon) will cause Americans to rethink the types of cars they drive (I should point out that Lutz didn't call for a gas tax or anything like that). But is Lutz right when he says that's the only way this contemplation will happen? I doubt it. We don't need $8 gallons of gas to force a change, especially if that change comes over the next ten years. You'd see one hell of a shift to small cars if gas were $5 a gallon two weeks from now. It's the slow increases that keep us in our big cars and SUVs. We see the prices go up over time and just swallow and insert the credit card. A quick jump will reframe the debate.

[Source: Automotive News]

The topic of cheap cars has come up on our pages before, and John McElroy has shared his thoughts on the topic over at Autoblog. It looks like John will be contributing over at our sister site on a somewhat regular basis, this is his first posting. McElroy is the host of Autoline Detroit which you may have seen on Speed TV or public television (make sure to watch it tomorrow). On the topic of inexpensive cars, John brings up the Dacia Logan, which is now part of Renault's stable. This car is just about the cheapest set of (four) wheels you can get in Europe, and McElroy highlights the fact that the car is selling rather well. This is causing the other manufacturers to look into offering similar vehicles in their own lineups.

The next point brought up is the possibility of even cheaper cars from companies like Tata from India. As McElroy points out, this type of vehicle is unlikely in the U.S. due to the fact that the emissions equipment alone on cars sold here might cost as much as the vehicles themselves in other area. Additionally, safety standards would likely impede inexpensive cars from making inroads on American roads.

Although the idea of an inexpensive new car that even low-income households could afford is certainly one with merit, if the vehicle is not capable of being safe and clean, it probably should not be sold. The argument could be made though that if the new car, even if not up to snuff with other new cars were cleaner than a five-year-old used car it could still be an eco-benefit. Sounds like a very fine line that would need to be walked, but if companies like Continental or Borg-Warner help with cheaper emissions and safety equipment, who knows what may come of it.

[Source: John McElroy / Autoblog]