[ATaylorRacing]

The emissions testing is relatively easy for the car makers to do, but the crash testing is the part that starts making our cars heavier an thirstier than the same model overseas. Look at the tiny Smart car..41 mpg...my 98 Neon would do that all day and have lots more room. Even my beloved Chrysler was thinking of importing the China made Cherry and the first thing they talked about doing is adding a ton of standard items so it would be more liked by the public.....JUST build it PLAIN JANE and ofer us option packages. If I had a car co I'd do all I could to build no frill cars that would offer a/c as the main option and a cvt as the second. The Cherry was going to be under $10,000 but they said no one would buy them like that....WRONG. The US auto companies could also build some kick butt economy cars if they thought they would sell. No reason why the SRT4 Caliber with 285 hp 42.4 4 banger could be redesigned as a 2 cylinder with 142 hp. The Neon was killed off to make this vehicle. Wt is a big factor....my 98 Neon was 2500 lbs while my 05 is 2990, the caliber is heavier yet.