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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Small Car Sales Slump As Sports Utility Vehicles Thrive

Associated Press

In their rush to embrace beefy sport utility vehicles and brawny pickup trucks, Americans are slowly discarding a prominent piece of their recent past: Smaller cars.

Sales of the Ford Contour are down 13 percent in the first 11 months of 1997, while sales of General Motors’ Saturn cars are down 10 percent.

Chrysler hasn’t had better luck with Plymouth and Dodge Neons, with sales off 19 percent and 15 percent respectively. Sales of the Chevrolet Prizm and Metro are down 23 percent and 38 percent, respectively, while the Mercury Tracer sales are down 10 percent.

Many smaller models that are selling require incentives, automakers and analysts say.

“The economy segment of the market doesn’t really exist anymore,” said G. Richard Wagoner Jr., president of GM’s North American operations. “It’s basically been wiped out.”

The slumping small car sales are especially noteworthy following the international agreement earlier this month aimed at curbing greenhouse gas emissions to fight global warming.

Automakers already rely heavily on making small cars to meet the current federal standards, which call for U.S.-made and imported vehicles to average 27.5 miles per gallon for cars and 20.7 mpg for light trucks.

But a requirement that automakers produce even more small cars isn’t realistic given Americans’ buying habits, said Thomas C. Gale of Chrysler.