As fuel prices bite, US drivers are finding that big is not necessarily luxurious
As vehicle manufacturers vie ever more fiercely for American car buyers' attention, they are starting to buck a long-held assumption that luxury equates to size and power.
Starting with imported models such as the Audi A3 and the BMW Mini, Americans are showing a growing inclination to accept - as Europeans and Japanese already do - that a car with a small engine or a small body is not necessarily a sign of poverty or wimpishness.
Most recently, Chrysler has broken new ground by offering a four-cylinder version of its new Sebring mid-sized saloon with the bells and whistles traditionally available only in V6 models.
The top-of-the-line Sebring comes in both V4 and V6 versions. Even the V4 is equipped with a heated (and cooled) cup holder, satellite radio and a rear-seat entertainment system.
The new Sebring, which is now arriving at dealerships, is designed to grab attention in a fiercely competitive segment dominated in recent years by the Toyota Camry and the Honda Accord.
Ford has also done well over the past year with its Fusion, whose trademark is a distinctive, three-bar front grill.
Retail sales of earlier Sebring models were mediocre, with many ending up in rental-car fleets.
"If you arrive late to an existing segment, you have to arrive better," says Csaba Csere, editor of Car and Driver magazine. "Unless you captivate (buyers), you're not going to succeed."
Jack Nerad, editorial director of Kelley Blue Book, a car pricing service, adds: "There are so many good cars out there, that getting any kind of differentiator or separator is a key thing."
Manufacturers typically launch new features in their biggest and most expensive models where profit margins are highest.
According to Mr Nerad, "the concept of a premium small car has been quite alien to American manufacturers and, to a large extent, to the American market".
But, says Mr Csere, "the drift downward [to smaller models] is proceeding more rapidly these days than it used to".
One reason is that the jump in petrol prices over the past 18 months has encouraged many Americans to take a closer look at smaller vehicles, and at cheaper or more fuel-efficient versions of bigger ones.
According to Autodata, a consultancy, the lower end of the luxury segment grew to 58.3 per cent of all luxury vehicles in the first nine months of this year from 54.8 per cent in January-September 2005.
Manufacturers are now wooing small-car buyers not only with low prices, but with a raft of features.Anti-lock braking systems, air-conditioning, power windows and power steering are available - in some cases as standard items - on 2007 models of the smallest, sub-compacts, such as the Toyota Yaris and Chevrolet Aveo.
With these vehicles aimed mainly at younger drivers, high-end entertainment systems have become essential.
Ann Fandozzi, Chrysler's director for front-wheel drive product marketing, says that a question uppermost in the minds of designers and engineers when they start work on a new model is how to fulfil the "unmet needs" of target customers.
For example, many of the new Sebring's owners are likely to use their cars for commuting. "If the cup holder had a heating element, the trip to work would be a pleasant one," Ms Fandozzi notes.
One big challenge is to balance extra features against higher cost.
Chrysler managed to install a beverage cooler in a cubbyhole of its new Dodge Caliber, a small hatchback, at minimal cost by re-routing air-conditioning ducts. But the Caliber also comes with a self-recharging torch, an illuminated cup holder, and audio speakers that can swing out of the open liftgate.
The Caliber has done well since its launch in the spring, with almost 70,000 sold to date.
Still, not every manufacturer takes the view that such extras are worthwhile in a small car.
Honda says that utility and safety were higher priorities in its next small car rather than gadgets or luxury. "The buyers were asking for very affordable, very safe, very efficient transportation," it adds. "We didn't want to give them more than they wanted."