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You guys are missing the point. This car needs to sell in large volumes to keep a cheap price and allow Elio to stay in business. It doesn't matter who likes the car and who doesn't. It matters how many people buy the thing. And for that, you have to make people like the car. The profit margin on mass volume cars like the Civic or Corolla is very low. They have to sell a lot of these cars to make money, otherwise they would have to increase the price to pay the bills. Elio has to sell a lot of cars to make money with such a cheap price.
Lets be realistic. There are many cars out there like the Prius that broke away from the norm and sold very well, while being fuel efficient. But these cars sell well because they have things people want in a car. 4 doors, cargo room, comfort, safety. The only thing the Elio has going for it is price and fuel economy.
Why do you think Honda changed the design of the Insight after the first generation? It didn't sell well, despite being the most fuel efficient production hybrid to date. They had to transform the design into something that would sell more volume, so they added 2 doors, 2 seats, and more cargo room to turn it into a Prius.
I want Elio to be successful. I would even buy one it they make it to production. But the numbers don't add up so far. I'm not going to look past the facts and be optimistic when Elio hasn't put out any real details or information, despite claiming they are less than a year from production.
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