They're so small they make a pickup look like an aircraft carrier, but some get 85 miles per gallon or more. Subcompacts were a spirited sideshow at the recent week's Paris Motor Show, where the biggest crowds still fawned over the latest minivans and muscle cars. Environmentalists and consumer advocates contend there's a conspiracy to keep proven fuel-misers off the market.
Every manufacturer can make such a car.
Our object is to make cars that the public will buy. Chrysler Corp. Chairman Robert Eaton hammered that point home in a news conference here recently, announcing a joint venture with BMW's Rover division to make small engines in Latin America beginning in 1999. But not in Neons sold in the United States, where gas is cheaper and sales of gas-guzzling sport utility vehicles are soaring. Here, Renault already leads the way with its popular Twingo, a two-door subcompact that goes roughly 48 miles on one gallon. Recently, as journalists got a sneak preview of the auto show, Greenpeace unveiled its own concept car.