Car buyers take matters into their own hands

Detroit fiercely lobbied Congress to not impose stricter mileage standards on their fleets. However, consumers may not be as cooperative as Congress. In record numbers, they are turning to smaller, more fuel efficient cars and largely imports like the Honda Fit and Toyota Yaris. Stop me if this sounds familiar. Detroit put all of their hopes into continued SUV sales. The cheap to build, expensive to sell truck-based platforms brought in equally large profits. However, $3.50-$4.00 gas may have put these dinosaurs on the endangered species list. Where will that leave Detroit?

Detroit has access to quality small car designs which they offer in Europe where mileage standards are stricter, but they have been reluctant to bring these models to the states. Ford has been somewhat different. Their Focus has strong European bloodlines and is a domestic success.

With federal fuel-economy regulations increasing to 31.6 miles per gallon by 2015, car companies have another incentive to speed development of smaller vehicles.

If Detroit expects to remain competitive, they will need to hit those fuel numbers much sooner.