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Will small cars with big style seduce U.S. drivers?

The Adam is a lot better looking than the Chevrolet Spark and Sonic! I suppose if GM were to sell it in the States it would have to be a Buick to command a premium price.

The problem with nice sub-compact cars is that there is very little difference in price between them and their compact siblings. While the base price of the Ford Fiesta and Ford Focus are $3000 apart, what you see on the dealer lots (based on online searches I've done) seem generally priced much closer. You'd have to really want the smaller car instead, or if price is the biggest issue, really search for a base model.

To drive on USA streets the little car better be able to withstand a crash with a truck without looking like a beer can, and it has got to have high capacity air conditioning due to the hot and humid weather in the south (that machinery takes up space, so make room for it!). I use to drive a small car but after being hit by a caddilac, I will not do it again. But we do, and will always, have some pickup trucks in the USA. There is too much a hazard to drive small no matter how posh the small car is. I am 100% willing to accept less horsepower, but not reduce my own safety.

Wondering why US streets are any different from streets in London, Paris, Tokyo, Kuala Lumpur ??

One of the safest cars in crash testing is the tiny Mercedes Smart Car, which has a rigid steel safety cell that far exceeds the abilities of larger cars like Volvo/BMW. It's not the size of the car, it's the design of the passenger cabin.

Most small cars in Europe have developed over the years to become 5* EuroNCAP in testing for safety - Honda Fit (known as the Honda Jazz in Europe) is a good example. The larger Ford Focus is another. You do not reduce your safety in a smaller car.

Gas Mileage > 50mpg.

I would suggest you go right to the source for safety in passenger vehicles in america. That source is the IIHS (insurance institute for highway safety). The institute keeps a database of the crash survivability of all vehicles insured in the US. There is a clear trend, and that is the weight of the vehicle varies in proportion to crash survivability. In other words, do not count on that finely made MB cabin to save you in a head on collision with an american pickup or Lincoln town car. It won't.

To drive a small car not only must it be safe but must have a smooth ride. Here in the US we are used to hitting the freeways, driving long distance. The last time I drove from Houston to SA in a Ford Focus was the last time! Also, rear seats must be able to fold down flat and/or be completely removable. Cheaper, too!

Again Small/Smaller Euro cars are often good at this, as freeway speed in Europe are generally higher.

70mph UK, up to 80-90mph on some German autobahn's.

As mentioned above, why does anyone really think road/geography/vehicles is the US and Canada is really any different from Europe. Smaller cars/engines/diesel/efficiency in Europe are common - no reason why the benefits can;t apply to the US too.

Most Europeans drive these micro-cars not so much because they are eco-conscious, or find them as safe or comfortable. They do so because most older European cities were laid out centuries before automobiles were conceived, and simply are not navigable in anything larger than an ox cart. The farther you get away from large city centers, the larger the cars you see on the highway get.

Also, diesel usage is far more common in passenger cars and the air quality in most major European cities is atrocious compared to America. The primary cause is the high fuel taxes that make mandating the emission controls that add weight and affect mileage that the US does politically impossible.

I refuse to drive something that does not have adequate interior room. That is the main reason I drive a full sized pickup truck. My wife's car (2007 Ford 500) was bought for that very reason as well, I could sit in the back seat comfortably! Whereas a model from a different manufacturer had no room in the back seat at all, even for someone much shorter than me. Her car is now at more than 75000 miles and I am retiring soon, so we have discussed replacing it in the next four years. A zippy little car might be nice for her, but it should be for both of us, and any future grandkid transportation. Ford no longer even makes a minivan. As far as I am concerned that was a mistake, I don't plan on buying an SUV just to haul a bunch of people. The gas mileage on my P/U is bad enough without getting two vehicles with bad MPG's. Bring back the station wagons, they were great, had lots of room, seats laid down to accomodate whatever you wanted to haul. I had one in the mid 70's and I could even sleep in it, stretched out in the back.
I don't really care about style as much as functionality, then maybe we will talk style. I have preferences on pickups, but not much. It seems like most cars on the road today look alike anyway where is the styling? It is all aerodynamics which does away with uniqueness. Bring back the fins of the 60's. My first car was a 1959 Chevrolet Impala, with the big fins that made a V on the trunk, the 1960 separated the V to more of a spread out U.
Who can afford a Mercedes? I don't want to spend that kind of money on an automobile. My pickup cost me less than $20K double or triple that for a Benz, way too much for a vehicle that moves you from point A to point B.
Safety is a big concern in the smaller cars.

In the 1960's practically all Americans drove large cars (very large by today's standards). Trucks were few, and SUv's were rare. In the 1970's there was a mideast war. We ended up having our oil embargoed. The price of gas went from$0.25 per gallon to over $1 per gallon. People started buying tiny imports.
In the 1980's, under the superb fed guidance of Paul Volcker, the price of gasoline dropped. Americans developed an appetite for trucks and what is now called the SUV. The demand for gasoline increased and the price stayed low.
The 1990's saw us back to our old excesses. The number one sellers were gas guzzling SUV's and pickup trucks. A tipping point was reached around 2001.
The early 2000's saw gas prices quadruple, from $1 to $4 per gallon. Now there are other options besides small cars. There are 25 mpg SUV's. There are hybrids. There is much greater efficiency overall.
A normal price correction started in late 2008. Gasoline briefly reached a nadir of $1.40 per gallon until some ill advised activity by the federal reserve bank to devalue the dollar reversed the trend. Mr Bernanke drove the prce of gasoline back up.
Hence we will see a trend towards greater fuel efficiency in vehicles. Unfortunately people cannot afford to keep larger, safer, more comfortable automobiles again. So the pendulum shifts.
Inflation is the worst tax of all. It is anti-regressive in that it disproportionately affects the poor. A rich person could care less if gas is $4 per gallon. A person making minimum wage can not afford it. There is no meaningful public transit infrastructure here either. Great job, Bernanke. Food and fuel are vital and should be included in the inflation formula. Get your head out of the sand and stop pandering to the wall street and banking crooks.

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