More Galleries
10 of the most luxurious airline amenity kits When it comes to in-flight pampering, the amenity kits offered by these 10 airlines are the ultimate in luxury More
7 startups that want to improve your mental health From a text therapy platform to apps that push you reminders to breathe, these self-care startups offer help on a daily basis or in times of need. More
5 radical technologies that will change how you get to work From Uber's flying cars to the Hyperloop, these are some of the neatest transportation concepts in the works today. More

Special Offer

It's a small-car world

Automakers are working on a new generation of ultra-tiny cars. And some of them could make it to the U.S.

1 of 8
BACK NEXT
Smart ForTwo
Smart ForTwo
Most automakers sell more smaller cars overseas than they sell here. Americans like space and plenty of utility in their vehicles, marketers say. Hence, the popularity of crossover SUVs.

So Daimler took a big leap in bringing its ultra-tiny Smart ForTwo to the United States this year. It's still too soon to tell if this two-seat "city car" will be a long-term success in America, but competitors are keeping a close eye on it.

With rising gas prices and greater environmental awareness, demand for small cars is increasing. The Mini Cooper is already an established success. Newer models like the Toyota Yaris, Honda Fit and the redesigned Ford Focus are capturing more customers as well.

Now, more carmakers are considering the idea that Americans might actually enjoy the sort of very small cars that have been popular just about everywhere else. Some of the those shown here will probably never make it to the United States, but a few certainly will.


NEXT: Chevrolet Beat
Last updated May 07 2008: 11:53 AM ET

Most stock quote data provided by BATS. Market indices are shown in real time, except for the DJIA, which is delayed by two minutes. All times are ET. Disclaimer. Morningstar: © 2018 Morningstar, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Factset: FactSet Research Systems Inc. 2018. All rights reserved. Chicago Mercantile Association: Certain market data is the property of Chicago Mercantile Exchange Inc. and its licensors. All rights reserved. Dow Jones: The Dow Jones branded indices are proprietary to and are calculated, distributed and marketed by DJI Opco, a subsidiary of S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC and have been licensed for use to S&P Opco, LLC and CNN. Standard & Poor's and S&P are registered trademarks of Standard & Poor's Financial Services LLC and Dow Jones is a registered trademark of Dow Jones Trademark Holdings LLC. All content of the Dow Jones branded indices © S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC 2018 and/or its affiliates.