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June 20, 2007
WITH fuel prices high and the pressure to reduce carbon dioxide emissions rising, automakers are finding themselves in the familiar squeeze of balancing customer wants with government mandates, according to the New York Times.
The most direct path to improving fuel economy — designing cars that are lighter and smaller — presents many challenges, including a population that is bigger and more feature conscious. While clever marketing may overcome that resistance to small cars, federal safety standards cannot be compromised, and the physics of a car crash gives the advantage to larger, heavier vehicles.
Still, development of more compact vehicles seems healthy. General Motors dipped its toe in these waters with a trio of pug-nosed microcar designs for the auto-show circuit this year; the tiny Mercedes-Benz Smart cars will be here next year; and Honda, Nissan and Toyota have all recently added smaller cars to their lines.
Posted by 
at 11:10 AM to Design
, Safety
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