Small Cars Go Big Time in the US

Sections: Uncategorized Nov 29th, 2004 41 Comments

Fox News (of all places) has a short piece on the MINI's popularity in the US. Here's are a few excerpt:

The Mini has shown carmakers that small cars can do well in the U.S., if they are properly conceived and properly marketed,” said Joe DeMatio, senior editor at Automobile Magazine. “They have to have character, personality and performance.”

…The response to the Mini has other carmakers scrambling to follow suit. In the first half of 2006, Daimler Chrysler's Mercedes-Benz will roll out a compact, 13-foot SUV version of its Smart city coupe called the Smart Formore, starting at about $20,000.

Nissan is also rumored to be considering launching a pint-size SUV here in 2006 called the Cube – which has had success overseas, particularly in Japan. Toyota's version, the 13-foot, $15,000 Scion XB, has already had quite a ride in the U.S. since it was introduced this summer.

GM's Pontiac plans to introduce the sporty little Solstice in the fall of 2005, an adorable-yet-sleek roadster with an asking price of about $20,000 (which places it well below the price range for standard sports cars), and a body that's only about a foot longer than the Mini.

And though Honda has been hush-hush on details of its own forthcoming high-end compact auto, the company does admit it will introduce a mini car, smaller than its Civic, in 2006.

It's all a very typical MINI related article. That is until the last five paragraphs. Fox apparently wanted to give some MINI detractors room to respond to this unqualified success. But the people and the arguments they use are rather poorly thoughtout at best and just hilarious at worst. You can read it all here.

Written By: MF Staff

Erik

A grad student said this? I hope her major isn't English. Hilarious is the right way to describe this statement, Gabe.

“IÃ¢â‚¬â„¢m hating Mini Coopers,” said Sarah Trafford, 23, a 5-foot-11 Washington, D.C., graduate student. “When I get in them, I have to be all hunched over. TheyÃ¢â‚¬â„¢re massively uncomfortable and unpleasant to ride around in.”
Nicholas P

“IÃ¢â‚¬â„¢m hating Mini Coopers,” said Sarah Trafford, 23, a 5-foot-11 Washington, D.C., graduate student. “When I get in them, I have to be all hunched over. TheyÃ¢â‚¬â„¢re massively uncomfortable and unpleasant to ride around in.”"

obviously, she's never actually been in a MINI…i'm 6'2 and don't even put my seat all the way back…there is headroom for miles, a spacious dash area, and plenty of room for a 6'5″ person in the front seat to relax and be comfortable…
http://motoringfile.com Gabe

Yeah quite funny. Obviously that comes from someone who never been in one. I'm 6'2″ and don't even have my seat all the way back in typical driving. Even sitting in the rear seats there's plenty of headroom in the MINI.

Maybe she was thinking of the Beetle?
Bill Lawrence

They interviewed some real jackasses for the end of that article didnt they?

That 5'11″ chick who is hunched over in the MINI needs to learn to adjust the seat. As a 6'11″ MINI owner, I am never hunched over. In fact, the MINI seats fit my frame better than the smaller seats in my wifes Explorer.

Oh well, it's good everyone doesnt want a MINI. Especially morons like that.
Bill Lawrence

Oooops!…Correction, I am a 6'1″ MINI owner, not a 6'11″ MINI owner
Nicholas P

“Trafford said small cars just mean more vehicles on the road – and thus, more pollution. She doesnÃ¢â‚¬â„¢t think compacts like the Mini make sense in the U.S.

“WeÃ¢â‚¬â„¢re not Europe, so letÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s try to stop being Europe,” she said. “LetÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s be proud of our heritage – weÃ¢â‚¬â„¢re big and happy. Why donÃ¢â‚¬â„¢t we just have big cars?” “

lol

maybe she thinks this way to help her feel better about driving an 8mpg SUV around?

how does adding cars instead of SUVs add to pollution?

and since when does everyone in America want to drive a big boat? some people actually want to MOTOR, not just use a car to get from point A to point B, while doing our makeup, talking on a cell phone, eating lunch, reading memos, and brushing our hair at the same time…
Chris G

“Trafford said small cars just mean more vehicles on the road – and thus, more pollution. She doesnÃ¢â‚¬â„¢t think compacts like the Mini make sense in the U.S.”

Obvious, but needs rebuttal: road use does not depend on square feet of car and tarmac – it depends on the number of people, or groups of people who wish to make a journey. Her point would only make sense if everyone who used a truck used its full capacity – but given that the vast majority of trips are made by individuals that argument doesn't work. Moreover a MINI seats four (5 if you're close friends), where many pickups just have single bench at the front.

Don't even get me started about comparing fuel economy between trucks and small cars. A MINI's thirst is one of its weaknesses compared to similar European kit, but against SUVs there's just no contest
Nicholas P

and that other guy who “only lets his teens drive SUVs” needs to become more educated…the SAFEST SUV, the suburban, is less safe than most midsize cars (accord, camry, etc)…for every 1 life saved from advantages of owning an SUV, 5 more are lost due to the SUV…the tahoe kills 122 people for every million tahoes on the road!

all the research shows that SUVs are slightly MORE dangerous for their occupants than passenger cars…

and i'd rather not get into an accident in the first place than get into one in an SUV…if u can avoid the accident or avoid rolling over(!), then u are 100% safe
Chris G

“John Finn, 57, of Bath, Mich., is leery of the safety of compacts – high-end or not – when surrounded by sport utilities on the highway. He said he wouldnÃ¢â‚¬â„¢t let his children drive anything but SUVs when they were teenagers.”

MINI vs an SUV wouldn't be fun, but the safety cell is very good (see other posts on cabin intrusion in accidents) and more importantly the active safety is going to be leagues ahead of most other cars – the acceleration, grip and braking will do much to keep you out of harms way. Bear in mind this is a car built by BMW, from the land of no speed limits and engineered as such compared to which, a highway collision is certainly dangerous, but it is only 55mph.

A prisoners' dilemma as ever, if only we all agreed to drive smaller cars…
RB

You can send a comment to the editor as I did.

*RB
Aniawn

It's funny how the MINI is doing so well in the US; yet, correct me if I'm wrong, there has been no TV ads and limited magazine ads for the MINIs
RB

Maybe Sarah has only been in the back seat?

*RB
Nicholas P

i've sat in the backseat several times…it may be short on legroom (unless u get person in front of u to move up some), but it has PLENTY of headroom, so you would not have to “hunch over”

at worst, u'd have to put ur legs in the middle or have them squished by the seat, but no hunching is necessary
KevinR

Every time I see comments like Mr. Finn's, I am reminded of the pictures in this story:

http://www.bridger.us/2002/12/16/CrashTestingMINICooperVsFordF150

As to Ms. Trafford, her commens cause me to question the quality of her graduate education program.
ChrisW

“..small cars just mean more vehicles on the road – and thus, more pollution.”

Flawless logic! So if I drive a large SUV, I'll be driving only one at a time, but if I drive a MINI, I'll be driving two simultaneously? Ah, now I see why driving small cars results in more cars on the road!

With intellect like this, I fear for the future of humanity.
ajigel

I'd have to say I am equally baffled by the stupidity desplayed in the article. First of all, they seem to refer to hatchbacks as mini or compact SUVs, so right off the bat I was expecting some stupidity.

As for the people they interviewed, all morons. In terms of pollution, I'll take the mini over an H2 any day. As for road safety, the Mini gets phenominal ratings while other cars fail. I'll take a Mini over a Jeep Cherokee any day. As for trying to be live Europe and all the other BS arguements – TRY LIVING IN A CITY? when parking is at a premium driving a Navigator around is as stupid as you can get. Damn, if these people represent average Americans then I'm all for acting more like Europe because they actually seem to have a clue.

I will give the article credit for giving props to the compact market by having the whole segment torn up by morons. I guess that's just being “fair and balanced.”
dgszweda

Those comments are a laugh. When will people get it out of their head that small always means dangerous.
RB

NicholasP…

It was a slam*RB
kozmo

Typical FOX reporting. The comments at the end of the article sound ridiculous enough to make me think they were made up by the author.
john

I love Foxnews and I love my Mini so where's the problem :D
Nathan

Let's get one thing out of the way first, SUV's and trucks do not kill people, careless drivers and drunks kill people. Now then, as the owner of both a Dodge Ram 1500 pickup truck and a MINI Cooper, I know, strange huh. I can tell you that I do not feel any safer in my truck than I do in the MINI, for one thing the MINI has 6 airbags and all kinds of safety features and my truck has 2 airbags and about a ton of steel around it. By the way, the smog index for the MINI is 1.0 which is pretty high for a small car. So, can't we all just get along.
bjs

the 5″11 think is kinda of funny to me because i work at a mini dealership and about 5 weeks ago i was on a test drive with a guy who was 6'10″ and about 250lbs. and he said he felt fine in the seats and had good headroom.
http://mesbcshere@aol.com bcs

I think that dan rathers must of interviewed these people that dont know what their talking about. I think its great to stop and pump $25.00 of gas and look over at all those larger vehicles and laugh at their 50.00 to 80.00 gas bills, besides what I love driving my 12 foot long Go-Cart on city streets. Go back and get another degree in colledge
Paul!

I have a friend that's about 6'4″ and around 350 pounds. He was a bit suprised and said he felt as comfortable in a MINI at least as much as his past vehicles. (Dodge Caravan and Toyota Camry)

-Paul!
Allan

Trafford said small cars just mean more vehicles on the road – and thus, more pollution.

Spot what is wrong with this quote and win a free MINI Cooper!! (not really)
http://users.adelphia.net/~rocketboy/index.html Rocketboy

I already sent them my longwinded response to the comments at the end of the article, but I just wanted to point out how lazy the person who wrote that was. They were desperate for some sort of FUD factor, but they couldn't be bothered to actually call anyone who knew anything.
Cessa

“…weÃ¢â‚¬â„¢re big and happy. Why donÃ¢â‚¬â„¢t we just have big cars?”

Is she serious??? This person needs to watch Supersize Me! Seriously, vehicle “fashion” is changing. Many people (me for example) are tired of BIG and that's what makes the MINI so attractive. It's perky, powerful and petite.

You gotta love the Average Joe on the street comments. We live in a scary world.
flyboy 2160

let me see if i have this right? the market has responded very favorably, the competition is reacting, but the bmw second handers are about to make the car larger, perhaps change the rear suspension, and change it's distinctive and excellent sytling. they should all be fired, starting with artsy-fartsy bangle.
http://www.bancroftsonline.com Sean Bancroft

Maybe miss 5'11″ was trying to fit into the boot.

Or for the grammar conscious…

Maybee she's hating the mini because she try to fit all hunched over in it boot
MiniLifeCrisis

Did anyone else notice the bit in the article about how the “competition” (if you want to call them that) is going to come out with their own small cars where the cars are miniatures S.U.V.s_????? LOL! They just can't get away from those things!! LMAO.

As far as size of drivers goes, I have a friend who is 6'5″ and drives a Toyota. He says the MINI was the only (and I stress ONLY) car he could sit in comfortably and still have leg and head room.

I think the MINI has but one size restriction and thats with W-I-D-T-H. ;-)

There is plenty of room and storage in my MCS, you just need to find it.

“This MINI doesn't make frequent stops at HomeDepot”
Name is Required

she agreed to be interviewed by Fox, what do you expect :)

**This article sponsored by Big Oil Bush Inc.
Anti political

Hey, nameless and clueless let's try to keep politics out of it.
ajigel

Politics aside, Fox has never impressed me as a news source, and articles like this prove why.
Little Bastard

Sarah must be HUGE! Maybe she was hunched over picking up Doritos that fell out of the bag. How about putting John and Sarah in the front seat of a Ford F150 and having another crash test.
Bart

Fat people mean fewer potato chips…..
NYCMini

We're not Europeans – we are big and happy! That makes Europeans what – little and miserable? Sorry to not leave the politics at the door, but this is just FoxNews preaching to the xenophobic choir in the guise of an automotive article.
Dul

Sarah from her profile, must be a Fox Networks Executive's daughter from a former marriage, single and like Nadar doesn't own a car but has been in one twice…..
Mubber

Hmmm…bizarre. I am 6'2″ and there is no way I can comfortable fit in my niece's Mini. And yes, the seat IS all the way back. There is absolutely no head room and I just love having my knees folded up into my chest because of the lack of leg room. For those of you who say you are taller than her to say you fit well into one, I call BS. These little bumble bees were obviously made for the little folks.
http://www.leftthis.com dillon

Thanks,Gabe for the Fox story on the MINI. The story was very informative until the critics of the MINI stated their points. I mean,I would not have minded if their points were based on facts(i.e. the cupholder problem,etc.);however,their points was just plain sour grapes. It's cool though,I get that a lot from people at the gas station when they discover,after talking to me,that MINI owners have a car,that in most cases,are more desireable than theirs in terms of safety,savings in fuel costs,resale value,and just overall,”WOW” factor. Motor on…
Nicholas P

Mubber, are you talking about Minis or the new MINI made by BMW the past 3 years? I'm 6'2 and don't even put the seat close to all the way back. I know 6'10″ people that fit fine. As for head room, there is a ton of headroom in the new MINI.

You are either talking about the old Mini, or you are just talking out of your ass.
http://users.adelphia.net/~rocketboy/index.html Rocketboy

Mubber, as a confirmed MINI owner I know for sure that someone who is over 6'2″ actually sat IN my MINI, and exclaimed that they had more room in my MINI than their Mid-Sized pickup truck. It sounds like Operator Trouble to me.

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