About 90% of my automotive usage is solo commuting, or bopping out to run a quick errand. I, and let's face it, most people, use their cars in the same way most of the time. And the performance is not all that bad, 0-60 in 20+ seconds was what my Volkswagen Beetles did, and they sold like hotcakes, and got 30MPG at a blazing 72 MPH top speed.

If I need to go on a long trip, haul home a pile of grocs, or take the outlaws out dinner, my '03 4-door Sentra Death Star (20 in town, 30 on the highway) could easily substitute, but for most applications is much more car than I need or want. My '90 2D Sentra Millenium Falcon (25-35 MPG) would also do in a pinch for the heavy lifting and space truckin'. It still runs like gangbusters with 135K miles on the clock.

There's no need for all of us to drive econoboxes all the time, but since most families own more than one automobile, it makes very good sense to have one. Everyone says the American public will not tolerate small cars, but recall how popular European sub-compacts were, way before the 70's energy crisis?

They'll be back eventually anyway, when gas prices climb far enough.

The real reason Detroit, and now even the Japanese, prefer to sell large cars is that the profit margin per unit is bigger for them. They are more efficient in an economic sense, for the people who make them, not those who use them.