Minicars

  • Volkswagen up! production version

    Volkswagen has been teasing us with concept versions of its Up minicar since the Frankfurt Auto Show in 2007, but finally the production version has been revealed and will make its debut at Frankfurt again in September. The Up (which VW spells "up!") is part of Volkswagen's drive towards greater efficiency in the absence of diesel and electric powertrains by more traditional means: a small, lightweight chassis and tiny engines with below-average cylinder counts. This means a body no more than 11.6 feet long by 5.3 feet wide and a range of brand new three-cylinder engines. Those engines will...

  • Suzuki Wagon R, Japan's highest selling vehicle
    Half Of Japan Now Drives High MPG, Low Power Kei Minicars

    If there's one thing that illustrates the culture difference between the United States and Japan better than anything else, it's the cars everyone drives. In the U.S, the Ford F-Series truck has dominated the sales charts for quarter of a century. The smallest engine available is a 3.5-liter...

  • Daihatsu A-Concept
    Small, Fun, High-MPG Minicars, Never Coming To The U.S.

    Life is so unfair sometimes. Car companies have been dangling the carrot of smaller and more fuel efficient vehicles in front of us for a few years now and though we've managed to grab vehicles like the MINI, Honda Fit and Ford Fiesta (and the Chevrolet Spark is on the way), we're still denied many...

  • Chevrolet Beat Diesel (aka Chevy Spark) brochure image from India, Aug 2011
    GM Launches World's Second-Smallest Car Diesel, In Indian Beat

    It must be the Chevrolet Spark minicar's moment in the sun. Last week, GM confirmed that the smallest Chevy ever sold will come to the U.S. as a 2013 model. Then we put two and two together to wonder if Chevy's first all-electric car might be a converted Spark. What we forgot to mention--until...

  • 2010 Chevrolet Spark
    Chevy Confirms Smallest-Ever Spark Minicar For U.S. In 2012

    The 2012 Chevrolet Sonic subcompact just going into production this month is the smallest car sold by Chevrolet in the U.S., but the bowtie brand isn't finished downsizing yet. Today, General Motors confirmed that the Chevrolet Spark minicar will be sold in the U.S. GM's executive director of North...

  • 2012 Scion iQ - First Drive
    2012 Scion iQ: Is 37 MPG Good Enough?

    The all-new 2012 Scion iQ minicar starts at around $16k and earns an EPA-rated 36 mpg city, 37 highway, for a Combined figure of 37 mpg.

  • Prokhorov CityCar natural-gas hybrid vehicle, design prototype

    Production of the Yo Auto CityCar is scheduled to start in the second half of next year but the technology for the planned hybrid model is reportedly still in development.

  • 2011 Scion iQ
    2012 Scion iQ Pricing Starting At $15,995

    Only one engine will be offered on the 2012 Scion iQ at launch, a 1.3-liter four-cylinder gasoline unit rated at 90 horsepower and matched to a continuously variable transmission (CVT).

  • Gordon Murray Design T.27 electric car prototype
    Gordon Murray Design Reveals T.27 Electric Minicar Prototype

    About a month ago we first brought you details on the new T.27 electric minicar prototype from automotive industry legend Gordon Murray, one of the chief designers of the McLaren F1 supercar. His latest T.25 minicar project is bustling along, with his design firm, the eponymous Gordon Murray...

  • Gordon Murray Design T.27 electric car prototype
    Gordon Murray's T.25 Minicar Spawns T.27 Electric Variant

    It’s been a while since we heard about Gordon Murray and the British engineer’s enigmatic T.25 minicar. The last we heard, Gordon Murray and his eponymous design and engineering firm Gordon Murray Design had built a prototype for his new minicar, revealing details about its...

  • MINI Rocketman Concept
    An Even Minier MINI: Tiny 3-Cylinder Carbon-Fiber Car In 2014

    If you, like us, think the modern-day MINIs are simply getting too big to be called a mini, then never fear as the automaker is reportedly set to launch its smallest model yet. MINI showed off a new concept car the recent 2011 Geneva Motor Show called the Rocketman, which is probably the closest...

  • BMW Megacity Vehicle official teaser
    BMW i3 Electric Car Coming With 100-Mile Range And $35,000 Sticker: Report

    The upcoming BMW i3, the car formerly known as the Megacity Vehicle and the first production all-electric car from BMW, is set to revolutionize the way mainstream cars are engineered and built, with most of its internal structure and body being composed of lightweight composite materials such as...

  • Tata Nano

    Despite a bumpy start, including some early examples of spontaneous combustion, the tiny Tata Nano is starting to fulfill the promise of bringing a four-wheeled automobile to India's masses at the world's lowest price. This hasn't gone unnoticed next door, in Pakistan. A Pakistani conglomerate, known as the International Multi Group of Companies, wants to import vehicles from the Tata Group. The lineup could include everything from the diminutive Nano to Tata's transit buses, powered by compressed natural gas (CNG). IMG already has a letter of intent with the Tata Group that covers the CNG...

  • 2012 Ford Fiesta customization pack
    High-MPG 2012 Ford Fiesta: More Style With New Customization Packs

    To keep interest in its 40 mpg capable Fiesta bubbling along into the 2012 model year, Ford is introducing a trio of new customization packs for both the exterior and cabin of the already stylish minicar. The new packs should prove popular as around 40 percent of buyers of the 2011 model have opted...

  • Production-spec Honda Brio minicar
    Production Honda Brio Minicar Revealed, Still Only For Asian Markets

    Last year both Honda and Mitsubishi unveiled new minicar concepts previewing their respective small car futures--Honda with the Brio Prototype and Mitsubishi with the Concept Global Small. Since then Mitsubishi has confirmed the production version of its Concept Global Small for eventual sale in...

  • Bluecar EV
    Pininfarina Signs Deal For Production Of Bluecar Electric Vehicle

    The last we heard of Pininfarina and its Bluecar electric vehicle was that the company was looking to start production but a lack of financial support meant the project was never able to pass the concept stage. That was almost two years ago, however. Fast forward to today and we have news that...

  • Tata Pixel Concept, 2011 Geneva Motor Show
    Video: Tata Pixel Concept's 'Spin On The Spot' Parking

    It's not coming to the States--at least not for several years--but the Tata Pixel concept shown at last week's Geneva Motor Show is worth paying attention to. It shows how a more upscale four-seat urban car could be built on the underpinnings of the tiny Tata Nano, the world's cheapest new car. One...

  • 2011 Smart electric drive
    Report: Smart ForTwo Electric Drive Available For Sale In 2012

    The Smart brand has enjoyed modest success in the U.S. since its launch here back in 2007 but with a lack of any new models or updates, the oddly-designed minicar brand has fallen largely off the radar of late. Furthermore, even with all the hoopla surrounding electric vehicles at the moment...

  • Tata Pixel Concept, 2011 Geneva Motor Show

    The world's least expensive new car, India's Tata Nano, is now selling across that country, with plans afoot to offer an upgraded version in Europe this year or in 2012. Meanwhile, carmaker Tata (which owns Jaguar Land Rover) is hardly standing still. At this week's 2011 Geneva Motor Show, Tata rolled out the Pixel Concept, its idea of an ultra-efficient urban car. The Pixel is aimed mostly at European and Asian markets, where fuel is far pricier than in the U.S. And many of its features are meant to make it stand out in crowded, space-constrained urban streets. Tata says the Pixel, which is...

  • 2011 Scion iQ
    2011 Scion iQ Minicar Sales Delayed Until This Summer

    If you're eagerly waiting for the first 2011 Scion iQ minicar to show up at your dealer, sit down and have a nice cup of tea. You're going to have wait a bit longer. Scion's parent, Toyota, is delaying the U.S. launch of the iQ, originally scheduled to happen by March of this year, to sometime this...

  • Mitsubishi PX-MiEV concept crossover, 2009 Los Angeles Auto Show
    Mitsubishi Launching Eight New Electrified Cars By 2015

    Later this year Mitsubishi’s battery-powered i-MiEV will finally go on sale in the U.S., having already gone on sale in Europe and Japan and making an appearence at the 2010 Los Angeles Auto Show last November. However, it’s hard to get excited over Mitsubishi’s zero-emission...

  • Mitsubishi i-MiEV electric minicar crash-tested by ADAC, December 2010, screen capture
    Big Crash, Small Electric Car: 2012 Mitsubishi 'i' Barrier Test

    It's both true and not-so-true: Small cars are dangerous in a crash. It's true, in that the laws of physics indicate a heavier object will have more momentum than a lighter object when they collide, meaning the small one gets displaced. But it's not so true if you're looking at absolute levels of...

  • 2010 Lotus City Car Concept
    Lotus Minicar Confirmed For 2013 Launch

    With the handful of new production intent concept cars Lotus showed off at the recent 2010 Paris Auto Show, it’s evident the automaker, typically focused with lightweight sports cars, is trying new things. What’s interesting to see is that Lotus is expanding towards both ends of the new...

  • 2011 Smart electric drive  -  first drive
    The Missing Electric Car Segment: Minicars At $15,000 Or So?

    For the past few years, we’ve witnessed the success of low-volume, high-priced, highway-capable electric vehicles in the Tesla Roadster. We’ve also just recently seen the advent of medium-volume, medium -priced highway-capable electric cars like the 2011 Chevy Volt and 2011 Nissan LEAF...

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