Getting Round in the Future
Thirty years ago small cars began landing on North American shores and with them an entire new way of looking at automobiles and their manufacturers.
Before the gas crisis of the mid-1970s, Detroit's Big Three ruled the domestic roost with ambivalence, flogging mediocre hunks of metal to consumers who didn't know, or expect, any better. Enter the Honda Civic. Once North Americans realized that the Japanese company's compact car, while tiny, 'funny looking' and prone to rust, was a wholly logical vehicle for urban driving, the Big Three lost their edge -- and for many years their direction.
Move ahead to the new millennium and North America is being targeted for another small vehicle invasion. smart cars are already rolling into Canadian showrooms as you read this, and many in the automotive business will be watching with interest to see if tiny two-seater will have a similar effect on our buying habits as did the Civic back in the dark days of disco.
Of course, the playing field the fortwo enters today is very different than the one the Civic entered back then. In fact, the current Civic is actually one of the vehicles smart is targeting.
Like the wildly successful Honda model, regularly the number one seller in Canada, DaimlerChrysler's smart fortwo is all about urban commuting. Unlike the Civic, though, the much smaller smart's fuel consumption is the best in the country, including the handful of hybrids now available in Canada.
Thirty years ago small cars began landing on North American shores and with them an entire new way of looking at automobiles and their manufacturers.
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| Canada is once again being targeted for another small European vehicle invasion, this time driven by the smart fortwo. (Photo: Shawn Pisio, Canadian Auto Press) |
Move ahead to the new millennium and North America is being targeted for another small vehicle invasion. smart cars are already rolling into Canadian showrooms as you read this, and many in the automotive business will be watching with interest to see if tiny two-seater will have a similar effect on our buying habits as did the Civic back in the dark days of disco.
 |
| DaimlerChrysler's smart fortwo is all about urban commuting, offering the best fuel consumption in the country. (Photo: Shawn Pisio, Canadian Auto Press) |
Like the wildly successful Honda model, regularly the number one seller in Canada, DaimlerChrysler's smart fortwo is all about urban commuting. Unlike the Civic, though, the much smaller smart's fuel consumption is the best in the country, including the handful of hybrids now available in Canada.