[CivicSpoon]

Originally Posted by Murco

The Geo products were just Asian cars with GM badges - the Prizm was a Corolla, the Storm was an Isuzu, and the Metro and Tracker were Suzuki. Even though the were only badge cars they didn't have the reliability rep of the parent companies that built them and sales were always soft.
Building cars like the older CRX or old Geo Metro couldn't happen today. Those cars didn't have multiple airbags (later Geo's had d/s only) and ABS, no OBDII systems, and their structures wouldn't pass muster in crash testing today. Plus, today's car buyers want killer stereos with i-pod integration, bluetooth, navigation, leather (in even the cheapest cars), 5-star crash safety ratings, 150k mile service-life, minimal maintenance, and go-anytime reliability....
All those features add weight, and the government required many of those safety changes (the heaviest) while raising CAFE standards. Today's cars have all that and much more plus most can protect you in an America populated by big SUV's.
Think about it for a moment, power will always increase as a result of better efficiency so power being up is pretty incredible when you consider mileage is going up as well. Even a new Z06 Corvette gets 27MPG!!!
Yes, there will always be a market for basic cars but if you look at the history of companies that focus on them, or mileage, they have historically failed. As another poster said, there is a huge number of vehicles competing in the lower end of the market and the products have never been better! The new Jetta diesel gets better mileage than the Prius and is much, much more enjoyable to drive. The golden age of cars is now!

I was specifically referring to gas mileage. I realize that all the safety features and such do add a tremendous amount of weight. But the point I was trying to make is that it's 15-20 years later. Car manufacturers should be much further along than they are, when designing engines and more aerodynamic vehicles. I realize that the average consumer was buying up gas guzzling trucks and SUVs, but car companies should have known. Everyone knows the old saying of "history repeats itself" (ala 1973). They knew, like everyone else, that eventually there would be a huge price increase for oil products. It would have saved thousands of factory jobs as well, but that's another story.