Automaker to gauge U.S. interest in minicar
Three models will be on display Wednesday in New York.
DETROIT (Dow Jones/AP) --General Motors Corp. GM's top global product planner said Friday the company is taking a serious look at bringing low-cost minicars to the U.S. market capable of achieving as high as 50 miles per gallon of gasoline and breaking ground in a virtually nonexistent segment in the world's biggest auto market.
GM Group Vice President John Smith said the auto maker is still in very early stages of investigating the U.S. market's appetite for minicars. Such vehicles are significantly smaller than subcompact cars currently sold in the region by several players. GM sells a Chevrolet Aveo subcompact car in the U.S., but nothing smaller.
"The honest answer is, I don't know yet how serious we are," Smith said, referring to the mini car segment.
Collecting data
The automaker plans to show three models of minicars Wednesday at the New York auto show. In coming months GM will collect research data to gauge consumer interest through an online voting campaign at www.vote4chevrolet.com.
The vehicles to be shown in New York are based on the tiny Chevrolet Matiz and Spark that are sold in several markets, including Europe and Asia, and in hot demand internationally because of space constraints and high gasoline prices. Smith acknowledges that in past customer studies in the U.S "there hasn't been a whole lot of hand-raising for things as small of the Matiz," partially because Americans, who pay relatively little for gasoline compared with drivers in other countries, prefer bigger vehicles.
While the automaker is seeing an uptick in demand for small cars in the U.S. because of increasing energy concerns, there is no hard evidence that buyers will flock to minicars unless gas prices take a serious upward increase.
"Our internal forecast shows gas at 2.50 a gallon for quite some time to come," Smith said, noting that stability in that price range won't seriously change consumer demand or inspire "a seismic shift in consumption habits."
There currently is not a minicar sold in the U.S., but DaimlerChrysler AG will launch its Smart micro-car brand here next year in an effort to create a niche market. BMW AG does sell the Mini Cooper, but that vehicle is actually much larger than actual minicars. Several automakers sell minicars around the globe, but there is little indication a flood of tiny vehicles aimed at U.S. buyers will be launched in coming years.
"There's an age-old debate in our business of responding to consumers or presenting them with a case they haven't thought about," Smith said.
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