minicar

Reassuring people that its tiny Fortwo city car is safe must be a constant struggle for Daimler's Smart brand. In Europe, where the diminutive cars roam around streets barely wider than the car, it's not such a problem. But in the U.S, where half the population drives 5,000-lb pickup trucks, people...

Daimler will be hoping that third time is the charm with the new third-generation 2016 Smart Fortwo and its four-seat counterpart. The all-new models have now been revealed in all their glory at the launch event in Berlin, and while several facets of the brand's values remain, a whole lot has...

The new Smart ForTwo and Smart ForFour minicar models have just made their world debuts in Berlin, and we've got the details. Thus far, only the two-seat Smart ForTwo has been confirmed for the U.S. It will launch as a 2016 model. While the Smarts will offer buyers in most markets a choice between...

The Scion iQ has not been a success story for Toyota's youth-orientated brand. In 2013, just 4,406 iQs found homes in the U.S. That's half as many as were sold in 2012, hardly a stellar year itself. By contrast, Toyota's other small car had a bumper year in 2013. The Aygo minicar moved nearly...

Japan does small cars like no other country on earth--mainly because they have to. The nation's Kei-jidosha car class was set up to make a class of car that was cheaper to run, easier to own and small enough to ease parking and minimize congestion. Now, reports The New York Times, these distinctive...

The all-new, third-generation 2014 MINI Cooper three-door hatchback--now called "Hardtop" by MINI--sports a longer nose, a new 1.5-liter three-cylinder engine, and an interior that at last cleans up some of the disastrous ergonomics of the previous cars. Specifically, the round display in the...

Many people approach car shopping in the U.S. looking for the largest, most luxurious vehicle they can afford, from the best brand possible. Still, at least a handful of shoppers are more focused on basic transportation--and a vehicle they know they can afford. My daughter Priscilla falls into the...

How do you make the world's cheapest new car more appealing? Make it more expensive. Sounds crazy, but that's the strategy Indian automaker Tata is using with its new Nano Twist. And there's a very good reason for that. The Nano entered India's market to much fanfare. It was billed as the "one lakh...

We're fond of the Chevrolet Spark minicar; it's by far the best-executed of the several smaller-than-subcompact cars sold today. But our fondness had been limited to the five-speed manual version; the four-speed automatic offered in 2013 was, in a word, awful. Now we've driven a 2014 Chevrolet...

It's fair to say the Smart brand hasn't been one of Daimler's bigger successes, but bosses will be hoping the third-generation car is closer to "third time lucky" than "three strikes and you're out". Smart's latest video suggests that new third-gen car is on its way soon, as camouflaged cars...

Smart ForTwo city cars are apparently quite easy to tip over.

A fuel-efficient five-door hatchback a little smaller than a subcompact--for less than $10,000? That sounds like a pretty good deal. Unfortunately, it's a deal only available to Canadian buyers--because the 2015 Nissan Micra is being offered just in that country, not in the United States. MORE...

Automakers unveiled several small SUV concepts at the 2014 India Auto Expo.

With minimal changes from the model launched last year as the least expensive electric car in the U.S., the 2014 Smart ForTwo Electric Drive remains the smallest and shortest plug-in electric car sold in the U.S.--as well as the only one offered as a convertible. The two-seat electric Smart comes...

Back in 2009, the MINI E electric car was BMW's very first attempt at building a battery-electric vehicle. The fleet of several hundred electric MINIs was leased out to volunteer test drivers in the U.S., Europe, China, and the U.K. to let the company gather data on how drivers used plug-in cars in...

You may have read stories lately that suggest the BMW i3 is the first luxury competition for the Tesla Model S electric car. It’s not. You may also have read that it’s the first range-extended car to go head to head with the Chevrolet Volt. It’s not. In building its first...

Do you miss your old three-cylinder Geo Metro? If so, Mitsubishi has a new car just for you. The 2014 Mitsubishi Mirage five-door hatchback minicar has the highest fuel-economy rating of any non-hybrid on the market. The EPA rates it at 40 mpg combined (37 mpg city, 44 mpg highway) when fitted with...

Adding the small range-extending engine to the 2014 BMW i3 battery-electric minicar will increase the price by $3,950, the company announced this evening. The standard 2014 BMW i3 electric car starts at $42,275 including delivery, before any Federal, state, or local incentives. BMW had announced...

Future MINI models will be powered by three- and four-cylinder engines the brand says will combine fuel economy and sportiness.

The smallest car Nissan sells in the U.S. is the Versa subcompact, which comes both as a sedan and the new 2014 Versa Note hatchback. But last week, we were able to drive the latest Nissan Micra, a high-volume car sold outside the States that's an entire car class smaller. In Europe, the Micra is...