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For years, style was absent without an excuse from American subcompacts. But the days of slab-sided, no-frills hatchbacks may soon be history.
For decades, something was missing in the small cars designed, built and sold in the United States. It was gone for so long that most American consumers probably didn't know what it was.
But to Ralph Gilles, Chrysler Group's chief designer, the missing ingredient was obvious. U.S. subcompacts lacked emotional appeal.
"Small cars of the past were not necessarily done with passion," he said.
Generations of Detroit designers seemed to say: No one buys a small car for its styling, so why bother? Uninspired, appliancelike econoboxes? What else did you expect?
American subcompacts had none of the attributes found in the cool, quirky and even elegant small cars created elsewhere in the world, from the original BMC Mini to the first Peugeot 205 to the modern Citroen C3.
U.S. automakers were forced to churn out small cars to raise corporate average fuel economy averages, so they could keep selling big trucks. Small-car design? An oxymoron.
But consumer preference has shifted -- the result of higher gasoline prices, new fuel-efficiency standards and concern about climate change.
"Small cars and vehicles powered by four-cylinder engines have been on a steady increase since 2004," said Ford Motor Co. sales analyst George Pipas.
U.S. fleets must average 35.5 mpg by 2016, compared with 25.3 mpg this year. Combined with stricter emissions standards, it means the number of small-car nameplates for sale in the United States will increase.
And when a market segment gets crowded, automakers must rely on styling to set their vehicles apart from the crowd.
"It's not business as usual for small cars here anymore," said Moray Callum, Ford Motor's design director for cars.
The expanding lineup of new small cars means styling will get a lot more creative and appealing, just as it did with mid-sized cars recently. (Think of the modern Chevrolet Malibu, the new Ford Taurus and the current Toyota Camry and Honda Accord.)
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Here's what the alphabet looks like when a car is your writing instrument.
(Credit: Toyota)With its short wheelbase and light weight, the Toyota iQ is sure to be a tossable little compact on the road, but how would it fair as a writing instrument?
Using a motion capture camera mounted with a bird's-eye view of the canvas, stunt driver Stef Vancampenhoudt proceeded to precisely write the all of letters of the alphabet using the iQ. Designers Pierre and Damien of Pleaseletmedesign then took the motion capture data and created a Toyota iQ font (which can be downloaded from here).
Check the video below to see exactly how they did it.
(via i love typography and Pleaseletmedesign)
PARIS--More than one European carmaker is on the verge of doing something it wouldn't have considered a few months ago.
They're thinking of selling very small and fuel-efficient cars to Americans--cars designed and developed with only Europe in mind.
Two small cars that debuted at the Paris show are under consideration for the United States. One is the Audi A1 Sportback Concept, which is about 10 inches shorter than Audi's A3. The production version could hit U.S. shores.
"A year ago, I would have said no," said Peter Schwarzenbauer, Audi's worldwide sales and marketing boss. "I did not see any trend in the U.S. which showed me that small cars could have a lasting, sustainable chance. I think this has changed. Therefore, we definitely have to reconsider the A1.
"Previously, it was not clear that it was right size for the U.S. Now, I say, 'Guys, let's have a look at it.'"
The hybrid A1 concept combines a turbocharged, 148-hp, 1.4-liter inline four-cylinder engine with an electric motor that boosts torque.
Meanwhile, Toyota may offer its Smart-like iQ minicar in the United States. At 117.5 inches long--just a tad longer than a Smart ForTwo--the iQ was designed and developed for congested European capitals.
But a Toyota source confirmed that the vehicle is being considered for the U.S. market. "We're looking at it, but no decision has been made," the insider said.
Sales in Europe start in January.
(Via: Automotive News)
The rear-window airbag will work with the headrests to protect passengers' heads.
(Credit: Toyota)Toyota Motor announced Tuesday that it has developed the world's first rear-window curtain shield airbag to protect rear passengers' heads in the event of a rear-end collision. The new airbag was designed for and will be implemented in its upcoming Japanese market iQ microcar. Merely looking at the photo, we weren't really sure what this new airbag does that the headrests don't already do. Digging a bit deeper we learned that the airbags work with the headrests to minimize impact to the head from a colliding vehicle or parts of the hit vehicle, helping to reduce the severity of injuries.
We're all for safer vehicles here at Car Tech, but we can't help but wonder if this new airbag system will actually work to reduce injuries, or is it just another bullet point safety feature for Toyota's spec sheet.
Where do you draw the line between a motorcycle and a car?
Toyota's iQ Concept, a concept car that debuted in Frankfurt and will be at the 2007 Tokyo auto show, might be better suited for the next rally in Sturgis, SD.
The iQ from Toyota.
Toyota is in collaboration with two Japanese companies to develop a 1-liter engine for the iQ that will be based on a Yamaha motorcycle engine, according to reports from Auto Blog and Automotive News Europe.
Toyota plans to produce about 80,000 iQ cars for Europe by 2009 and possibly more for the Indian and Chinese markets. But don't expect to see it in the U.S. anytime soon and probably for good reason.
The ultracompact is roughly as wide as a Mini Cooper, but almost one foot shorter. It holds about three adults and "one child (or luggage)," comfortably, according to Toyota.
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