BMW’s Mini builds the Mini Cooper D, one of the most fuel-efficient cars in the world. It has a 1.6-liter, 110-horsepower (with 240 lbs feet of torque) diesel engine that is capable of getting well over 60 miles per gallon (about 80 mpg has been recorded with the manual transmission). In any guise, the Mini Cooper is one of the best handling vehicles you can buy. The Mini Cooper Diesel still has amazing handling like other Minis and is available in several configurations (convertible and larger Clubman), but it is not available in the United States.
Ford has been building the Ka for over 12 years. It is an extremely efficient design and gets remarkable mileage while still being entertaining to drive. It is handsome with a considerable amount of comfort and utility for its size. Over 40 mpg (combined) and great driving dynamics are but a few of its attributes. Despite its age, the Ford Ka is considered one of the most popular cars in Europe and South America. The Ford Ka is not available for sale in the United States.
The United States is prohibited from having hundreds of great small cars. Why?
We can thank our Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Department of Transportation (DOT) and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) among others for creating very stringent guidelines for these manufacturers to even consider bringing these vehicles to our country. European standards are a tad looser than ours, thus making it easier for cars like these to be deemed safe for public consumption.
The United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) has excellent standards shared with several nations worldwide to regulate equipment on cars in order to facilitate trade of vehicles. The United States is not part of the UNECE and has very different standards – some experts say it is a deliberate ploy by our government to keep imports from dominating our market. Our current standards prohibit many of these small vehicles from being imported without costly revisions. Even our own automakers have to jump through hoops in order to get foreign built cars (even under their own company name) into the United States.
The question should be: How can we get the cars to be accepted into the United States sooner rather than later? And what are American-based vehicle manufacturers like Ford and General Motors doing about it?
General Motors has proved that with minor alterations popular sellers in Europe can be brought to the United States rapidly. The Saturn Astra is based on the European Opel/ Vauxhall model that has proven popular there. Sensing a hole in the American market, General Motors wisely “Americanized” the Astra and brought it to market quick enough to replace the void left by the rather unloved Saturn Ion.