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Fuel-Efficient Car Makes 3 Autos In The Driveway

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With gas prices rising above $3 a gallon nationwide, many
drivers are pushed to purchasing small cars. But hundreds of
thousands of owners are not giving up anything to downsize.
Instead, they opt to add fuel-efficient cars to their driveways,
parked alongside their SUV or pickup.

In households that own a small car, the family fleet is close to
an average of three vehicles, according to CNW Marketing
Research, which tracks industry trends. These growing fleets
suggest an approach to conservation that is more addition than
subtraction. "Small cars are like a fashion statement," said Art
Spinella, the president of CNW Marketing. CNW data also showed
that more than 500,000 were sold last year as second or third
cars in a household for three small cars, the Toyota Prius and
Corolla and the Honda Civic.

Ken Collinsworth purchased a Toyota Yaris last month for his
daughter to take to college this fall. But with gasoline price
close to $4 a gallon near his home in Paso Robles, Calif.,
Collinsworth has been forced to driving the Yaris instead of his
BMW X5 SUV and his GMC Sierra pickup. "I steal it from her every
chance I get," said Collinsworth, 53, who added that he would
like to get another Yaris.

In another era, he might be pitied for parking one of his luxury
cars to drive around in a gas saver. But unlike small cars
introduced in the past, which had limited creature comforts, the
latest bunch, including the Yaris, Nissan Versa, and the Honda
Fit, can be bought with many of the same sought-after options as
their bigger siblings, like navigation screens or iPod
connections.

"It is a fundamental change," Spinella said. "People are willing
to buy small cars because they are more sophisticated." And
buyers appear willing to pay a lot for them. In 1990, buyers
stuck to the low end of the scale when they bought a small car,
CNW's data showed. More than three-quarters opted for basic
no-frills models, sometimes even forgoing a radio to keep the
price down.

Now, ninety percent of purchasers are buying fully loaded small
cars, the data revealed. "You look at these cars, and they have
16-inch wheels and a leather-wrapped steering wheel and a
high-quality interior," said A. Andrew Shapiro, a partner in the
Casesa Shapiro Group, an auto industry investment and advisory
firm. "They aren't econoboxes, they're just smaller cars."

Pierre Tremblay, 67, of Howell, Mich., purchased a Toyota Prius
this month because driving his Dodge Ram pickup 40 miles
round-trip to work was costing so much. So far the Prius is
getting 55 miles per gallon, compared with 13 for the truck. "I
can go to work now, back and forth, on less than a gallon.
Before it was at least three," said Tremblay, a maintenance
manager for a cement company.

With regular unleaded gas averaging $3.53 a gallon in Michigan
this week, according to AAA, that is a savings of over $8 every
workday. But Tremblay was not ready to get rid of his pickup,
which is used to haul a camping trailer. The Acura head gasket and
accessories as well as tempting huge luxury vehicles could not
change his mind.

Americans have spent $20 billion more on gasoline so far this
year compared with 2006, according to a recent report by the
Government Accountability Office. "From a dollars-and-cents
point of view, it doesn't make sense," said Jesse Toprak, the
director of industry analysis for Edmunds.com, a Web site that
offers car-buying advice. "There's no way you're going to drive
it enough to justify the purchase, so it's more of a
psychological decision."

About the author:
Anthony Fontanelle is a 35-year-old automotive.buff who grew up
in the Windy City. He does freelance work for an automotive
magazine when he is not busy customizing cars in his shop.