An economy car is an automobile that is designed for low cost operation.[1] Typical economy cars are small, light weight, and inexpensive to buy.[2] Economy car designers are forced by stringent design constraints to be inventive.[3] Many innovations in automobile design were originally developed for economy cars, such as the Ford Model T[4][5][6][7] and the Austin Mini.[3][7]
The precise definition of what constitutes an economy car has varied with time and place, based on the conditions prevailing therein, such as fuel prices, disposable income of buyers, and cultural mores. In any given decade, there has generally been some rough global consensus on what constituted the minimum necessary requirements for a highway-worthy car, constituting the most economical car possible. However, whether that consensus could be a commercial success in any given country depended on local culture. Thus in any given decade, every country has had a rough national consensus on what constituted the minimum necessary requirements for the least expensive car that wasn't undesirable, that is, that had some commercially attractive amount of market demand, making it a mainstream economy car. In many countries at various times, mainstream economy and maximum economy have been one and the same.
From its inception into the 1920s, the Ford Model T fulfilled both of these roles simultaneously in the US and in many markets around the world. In Europe and Japan in the 1920s and 30s, this was achieved by the much smaller Austin 7 and its competitors and derivatives, although it failed to be accepted on the US market even in the middle of the depression. From the 1940s and into the 1960s, the Volkswagen Beetle played both roles throughout much of the world—in Germany and Latin America particularly—but its was let down by relatively high fuel consumption, such that British, French, Italian, and Japanese models, all with better fuel economy, could capture the maximum-economy position in their home countries (which was also mainstream there). Meanwhile, in the US, the Beetle and other imports could command the maximum-economy position, but the mainstream-economy position was commanded by cars that would seem more like mid-range or luxury models in some other markets. By the 1960s a new wave of front wheel drive cars with all independent suspension had been launched. By the 1970s the hatchback had become the standard body type for new economy car models. The Soviet bloc started selling poorly built, obsolescent or obsolete cars on the world market, at subsidised prices for hard foreign currency. Many of these cars were seen as the best value proposition, because they were generally larger cars, for the same price as small western models; in the case of the Lada they were let down by very poor fuel economy. In the mid 1980s, the Yugoslavian Zastava Koral (Yugo) (a rebodied 1971-83 Fiat 127), was sold as the cheapest car on the US market, South Korea's Hyundai models also sold well in the US, and have gone on to be successful around the world. Since the 1990s, the automotive industry has become extensively globalized, with all major manufacturers being multinational corporations using globally sourced raw materials and components. Today, every major manufacturer offers economy cars, including at least one truly small car that may fall into subclassifications such as subcompact car, supermini, B-segment; city car; microcar; and others. The U.S. market traditionally lagged behind other world markets in its adoption of truly small fuel efficient economy cars, but today it is catching up.
Features that in one decade were considered luxury items (for example, power steering, power (servo assisted) brakes, air conditioning, electric windows) would in later decades be viewed as appropriate as standard equipment even in economy models.
Contents |
At the birth of the automobile, in the 1890s and into the first decade of the 20th century, the motorized vehicle was considered a replacement for the carriages of the rich, or simply a dangerous toy, that annoyed and inconvenienced the general public. The children's book Wind in the Willows, pokes fun at early privileged motorists. The first car to be marketed to the (well off but not rich) ordinary person and so the first 'economy car', was the 1901–1907 Oldsmobile Curved Dash - it was produced by the thousands.[8] It was inspired by the buckboard type horse and buggy, (used like a small two-seat pickup truck) popular in rural areas of the U.S. It had two seats, but was less versatile than the vehicle that inspired it. It was produced after a fire at the Oldsmobile plant, when the prototype was saved by a nightwatchman named Stebbins, (who later became the Mayor of Detroit), and was the only product available to the company to produce, to get back on their feet.[9]
Although cars were becoming more affordable before it was launched, the 1908–1927 Ford Model T is considered to be the first true economy car, because the very few previous vehicles at the bottom of the market were 'horseless carriages' rather than practical cars. The major manufacturers at the time had little interest in low-priced models. The first 'real' cars had featured the FR layout first used by the French car maker Panhard and so did the Model T.
Henry Ford declared at the launch of the vehicle -
"I will build a car for the great multitude. It will be large enough for the family, but small enough for the individual to run and care for. It will be constructed of the best materials, by the best men to be hired, after the simplest designs that modern engineering can devise. But it will be low in price that no man making a good salary will be unable to own one - and enjoy with his family the blessing of hours of pleasure in God's great open spaces."[10][11]
The Ford Model T was a large scale mass-produced car; that very innovation, along with the attributes it required a simple, inexpensive design allowed it to be the first car to exemplify the ideals of the economy car. The innovations involved in making it a successful design were in its production and materials technology; particularly the use of new vanadium steel alloys. Model T production was the leading example of the Taylorism school of scientific management, (also known as Fordism), and its production techniques evolved at the Highland Park Ford Plant that opened in 1910, after it outgrew its Piquette Plant. The River Rouge Plant which opened in 1919, was the most technologically advanced in the world, raw materials entered at one end and finished cars emerged from the other. The innovation of the moving production line, was inspired by the 'dis-assembly' plants of the Chicago meat packing industry, reduced production time from twelve and a half hours, to just an hour and thirty-three minutes per car.[8] Black was the only colour available because it was the only paint that would dry in the required production time. The continuous improvement of production methods, and economies of scale from larger and larger scale production, allowed Henry Ford to progressively lower the price of the Model T throughout its production run. It was far less expensive, smaller, and more austere than its hand-built pre-first world war contemporaries. The size of the Model T was arrived at, by making its track to the width of the ruts in the unsurfaced rural American roads of the time, ruts made by horse drawn vehicles. It was specifically designed with a large degree of axle articulation, and a high ground clearance, to deal with these conditions effectively. It had an under stressed 177 cu in (2.9 L) engine. It set the template for American vehicles being larger than comparable vehicles in other countries, which would later on have economy cars scaled to their narrower roads with smaller engines. The Ford Model T was voted Car of the Century on December 18, 1999 in Las Vegas, Nevada.[4][5][6][7]
In 1914 Ford was producing half a million Model Ts a year, with a sale price of less than US$500. This was more than the rest of the U.S. auto industry combined and ten times the total national car production of 1908, the year of the cars launch.
The Ford Model T was the first automobile produced in many countries at the same time. It was the first 'World Car', since they were being produced in Canada and in Manchester, England starting in 1911 and were later assembled in Germany, Argentina,[12] France, Spain, Denmark, Norway, Belgium, Brazil, Mexico, and Japan.[13]
At the New York Motor Show in January 1915, William C. Durant the head of Chevrolet (and founder of GM), launched the Chevrolet Four-Ninety, a stripped down version of the Series-H, to compete with Henry Ford's Model T, and went into production in June. To aim directly at Ford, Durant said the new car would be priced at US$490 (the source of its name), the same as the Model T touring. Its introductory price was US$550, however, although it was reduced to US$490 later when the electric starter and lights were made a US$60 option. Henry Ford responded by reducing the Model T to US$440.[14]
Subsequent decades led to economical cars that reflected the needs of their creators. The cycle car was an attempt in the period before 1922 in the post-First World War austerity period, as a form of "four-wheeled motorcycle", with all the benefits of a motorcycle and side-car, in a more stable package. Crosley, a U.S. appliance manufacturer, would also be an early pioneer of very small cars.
In 1923 Chevrolet tried again with the Chevrolet Series M 'Copper-Cooled', air-cooled car, designed by General Motors engineer at AC Delco Charles Kettering, (who invented the points/condenser ignition system that was in use until the 1980s), it was a rare failure for him, due to uneven cooling of the inline four-cylinder engine.[15][16]
The most development occurred in Europe. There was less emphasis on long-distance automobile travel, a need for vehicles that could navigate narrow streets and alleys in towns and cities (many were unchanged since medieval times), and the narrow and winding roads commonly found in the European countryside. Ettore Bugatti designed a small car for Peugeot. The 1911 Peugeot Bébé Type 19. It had an 850 cc 4-cylinder engine. The Citroën Type A was the first car produced by Citroën from June 1919 to December 1921 in Paris. Citroën had been established to produce the double bevel gears that its logo resembles, but had ended the First World War with large production facilities, from the production of much needed artillery shells for the French army. Andre Citroen was a keen adopter of U.S. car manufacturing ideas and technology in the 1920s and 1930s. Andre Citroen re-equipped his factory as a scaled down version of the Ford River Rouge Plant, that he had visited in Detroit Michigan. It was advertised as "Europe's first mass production car." The Type A reached a production number of 24,093 vehicles. The Opel 4 PS, Germany's first 'peoples car', popularly known as the Opel Laubfrosch (Opel Treefrog), was a small two-seater car introduced by the then family owned auto maker Opel, early in 1924, which bore an uncanny resemblance to the little Torpedo Citroën 5 CV of 1922.
On an even smaller scale, European cars, such as the 747 cc Austin Seven, (which made cyclecars obsolete overnight[17][18]), would also start to catch on in Japan during the same time period, as a Datsun Type 11 that may have been pirated, at the start of their own automobile industry. It was also produced as a BMW Dixi and BMW 3/15 in Germany, Rosengart in France with French styled bodywork, and by American Austin Car Company with American styling, (later American Bantam) in the U.S. It displaced the motorcycle and sidecar combination that was popular in Europe in the 1920s. It spawned a whole industry of 'specials' builders. Swallow Sidecars switched to making cars based on Austin Seven chassis during the 1920s, then made their own complete cars in the 1930s as SS. With the advent of Nazi Germany the company changed its name: to Jaguar.
In the late-1920s, General Motors finally overtook Ford, as the U.S. new car market doubled in size, and fragmented into niches on a wave of prosperity, with GM producing a range of cars to match. This included a Chevrolet economy car that was just an entry level model for the range of cars. It was only a small part of the marketing strategy - "A car for every purse and purpose" of GM head Alfred P. Sloan. Harley Earl was appointed as head of the newly formed GM "Art and Color Section" of GM in 1927.[19] Harley Earl and Alfred P. Sloan implemented planned obsolescence and the annual model change to emphasise design as an engine for the success of the company's products.[20] This moved cars from being utilitarian items to fashionable status symbols - that needed regular replacement "to keep up with the Joneses." Later in 1937, the Art and Color Section was renamed[21] the Styling Section, and a few years afterward became one of the GM technical staff operations as the Styling Staff.[22] It was funded by high interest/low regular payments consumer credit, as was the 1920s boom in other consumer durable products. It marked the beginning of mass market consumerism, that had been enabled by the efficiency of mass production and the moving production line. Until this time, manufacturers of consumer goods were concerned, by the possibility that the market would be fulfilled and demand would dry up. Henry Ford was wrong-footed by staying with the production oriented one size fits all, "any colour you like as long as it's black", Model T for far too long. The seller's market in new cars in the U.S. was over. Customers wanted choice. The 'one model' policy had nearly bankrupted the Ford Motor Company. By the end of production in 1927 it looked like a relic from another era. It was replaced by the Model A.
In 1929 Chevrolet replaced the 171 cu in (2.8 L) straight-4 engine that dated from 1913, with the 194 cu in (3.2 L) straight-6 engine or "Stovebolt 6" that was to last until the 1970s as Chevrolet's base engine. A few years later Ford developed the Model 18 with the 221 cu in (3.6 L) flathead V8. The same car was available with a slightly reworked Model A engine, marketed until 1933 (in U.S.) as the Model B.[23] In Europe, it remained in the Ford lineup, as the Ford V8 in Britain in the 1930s which was re-styled and relaunched as the post-war Ford Pilot. They were viewed as large cars in Europe. The 1932 Ford V8 (Model 18) coupe became the car of choice for post-war hot rodders. It was the first V8 engine in a low priced car, and along with the Chevrolet 6, showed how the U.S. was diverging from the rest of the world in its ideas about what constituted a basic economy car.
In 1928 Morris launched the first Morris Minor (1928) in Britain to compete with the Austin Seven. Also that year German motorcycle manufacturer DKW launched their first car, the P15, a rear wheel drive, wood and fabric bodied monocoque car, powered by a 600 cc an inline two-cylinder two-stroke engine.
Also, in the 1920s, Ford (with the Model T in Manchester, England), General Motors (who took over Opel in Germany and Vauxhall in Britain), expanded into Europe. Most Ford and GM European cars, especially economy cars, were technologically conservative and all were rear wheel drive to a smaller European size, with improvements focused mainly on styling, (apart from the introduction of the 1935 monocoque Opel Olympia, and the Macpherson strut by Ford in the 1950s), until the late 1970s and early 1980s.
In 1931 the DKW F1 was launched. This was the first successful mass-produced front-wheel drive car in the world. (The British 1928-30 Alvis cars 'FWD' models had handling problems and only 150 were made.[24] The British 1929 BSA was a three-wheel competitor to Morgan and the motorcycle combination market, the 1931 four-wheeler was very short-lived.[25] The 1929 U.S. Cord L-29 having been seriously flawed, production ended at 4,429.[26] The 1930 U.S. Ruxton made about 500, production lasted for only four months.) The F1 featured a front-engine, front-wheel drive layout using a water-cooled 494 cc or 584 cc transverse two-stroke engine with chain drive. This was developed through the 1930s into the 1938 F8 model and the F9 that was not put into production because World War II started. By this time DKW had become the largest manufacturer of motorcycles in the world. Their two-stroke engine technology was to appear in the postwar products of Harley-Davidson, BSA, Trabant, Wartburg, Saab, Subaru, Piaggio, Puch, Kawasaki, Mitsubishi, Mazda, Daihatsu, Honda, and Suzuki.
In the late 1920s in Germany, Josef Ganz independent car engineer/inventor and editor of Motor-Kritik magazine and was a fierce opponent of the status quo of car design. He became a consultant engineer to Adler in December 1930. In the first months of 1931, Ganz constructed a lightweight economy car or peoples car, prototype at Adler with a tubular chassis, a mid-mounted engine, and swing axle independent rear suspension. After completion in May 1931, Ganz nicknamed his new prototype Maikäfer (German for cockchafer).[27] In July 1931 he was also consultant engineer to BMW on the 1932-34 BMW 3/20 successor to the BMW 3/15 model. It featured transverse leaf independent front and rear suspension and an updated overhead-valve cylinder head version of the Austin 7 based engine. After a demonstration of the Adler Maikäfer by Ganz, the German Standard Fahrzeugfabrik company (unrelated to the British 'Standard' company), then purchased a license from Ganz to develop and build a small car according to his design. The prototype of this new model, which was to be called Standard Superior, was finished in 1932. It featured a tubular chassis, a mid-mounted engine, and independent wheel suspension with swing-axles at the rear. The first production model of the Standard Superior was introduced at the IAMA (Internationale Automobil- und Motorradausstellung) in Berlin in February 1933. It had a 396 cc 2-cylinder 2-stroke engine. Because of some criticism to the body design, not in the least by Josef Ganz in Motor-Kritik, it was followed in April 1933 by a slightly altered model. In November 1933, the Standard Fahrzeugfabrik introduced yet another new and improved model for 1934, which was slightly longer with one additional window on each side and had a small seat for children or as luggage space in the back. This car was advertised as the German Volkswagen. During the early 1930s German car manufacturers one by one adopted the progressive ideas published in Motor-Kritik since the 1920s. In the meantime in May 1933, the Jewish Josef Ganz was arrested by the Gestapo on trumped up charges of blackmail of the automotive industry, at the instigation of those that he had ferociously criticized. He was eventually released, but his career was systematically destroyed and his life endangered. He fled Germany in June 1934 – the same month Adolf Hitler gave Ferdinand Porsche the brief for designing a mass-producible car for a consumer price of 1,000 Reichsmark.[28] Production of the Standard Superior ended in 1935. The company was forbidden by the Nazis from using the term 'Volkswagen'.
From 1931, two years prior to Hitler's accession to power, Ferdinand Porsche and Zündapp developed the prototype "Auto für Jedermann" ("car for everyone"), which was the first time the name "Volkswagen" was used. Porsche preferred a 4-cylinder flat engine, but Zündapp used a water-cooled 5-cylinder radial engine. In 1932 three prototypes were running. All three cars were lost during the war, the last in 1945 in Stuttgart during a bombing raid.
The Volkswagen Beetle would be the longest-lasting icon of this 1930s era. Adolf Hitler admired the ideals exemplified by the Ford Model T, (even though he didn't drive himself), and sought the help of Ferdinand Porsche to create a 'peoples-car' - literally Volks-Wagen, with the same ideals for the people of Germany. This car was to complement the new Autobahns that were to be built. They had been planned under the Weimar Republic, but he stole the credit for them.[29] Many of the design ideas were plagiarised from the work of Hans Ledwinka, the Tatra T97 and Tatra V570 with the Czechoslovakian Tatra (car) company. It was also suspiciously similar in many ways to the Josef Ganz designed cars, it even looked very similar to the Mercedes-Benz 120H prototype of 1931.[30] The Nazi "KdF-Wagen" ("Strength through Joy - Car") program ground to a halt before serious production had started because of World War II, but after the war, the Volkswagen company would be founded to produce the car in the new democratic West Germany, where it would be a success. The KdF, was the Nazi state organisation to promote leisure activities of the population, approved of, and monitored by, the state.
The Steyr 50 streamlined small car was introduced in 1936 by the Austrian manufacturer Steyr. The car had a water-cooled four-cylinder boxer engine driving the rear wheels through a four-speed transmission. To save room and weight a dynastarter was used, which doubled as the axle of the radiator fan. It was regarded as the "Austrian Peoples' Car" and was affectionately referred to as the Steyr "Baby". Professor Porsche had, despite rumors, not been involved in the design or production of the 50. Moreover, the little Steyr offered better seating and luggage space than Porsche's Volkswagen with shorter overall length, a large sheet metal sliding roof and was available with hydraulic brakes (instead of the early Volkswagens' cable-operated ones). In early 1938, the car was revised. It got a more powerful engine and a longer wheelbase. The new model was called the Steyr 55 and went on sale in 1940. A total of 13,000 Steyr "Babies" were sold. The production of Steyr cars was discontinued during World War II, after bombing of the factory. After the war, the factory was rebuilt and specialized in Austrian versions of the Fiat 500 and Fiat 1500. Today the Steyr factory produces the BMW X models for Europe.
From 1936 to 1955, Fiat in Italy produced the advanced and very compact Topolino or "little mouse", the precursor of the 1950s Fiat 500, it was designed by Dante Giacosa. It was a similar size to the Austin Seven but much more advanced. The Seven continued to be produced along with an updated and restyled closed body, known as the "Big Seven" until World War II, but still on the early 1920s chassis and running gear.
The pre-war European car market was not one market. Trade barriers fragmented it into national markets, apart from luxury cars where the extra cost of tariffs could actually make cars more exclusive and desirable. The only way for a car maker to enter another national market of a major European car making country, (and their colonial markets of the time), was to open factories there. For example, Citroen and Renault opened factories in England in this period. This situation only really changed with the post-war growth of the EEC (European Community) and EFTA. The British RAC (Royal Automobile Club) horsepower taxation system had the secondary function of excluding foreign vehicles. It was specifically targeted at the Ford Model T, which the then government feared would wipe out the fledgling indigenous motor industry. It crippled car engine design in Britain in the inter-war period, and was abolished after World War II as part of the British export drive for desperately needed, hard foreign currency, because it made British cars uncompetitive internationally. The 1930s Morris Eight, Ford Eight (Ford Model Y which was related to the German Ford Köln), and Standard Eight (Standard, later became Triumph) were named after their RAC horsepower car tax rating.
In anticipation of a repeat of the post First World War recession, GM started the Chevrolet Cadet project (a compact car intended to sell for less than US$1,000), that ran from 1945 to 1947, to extend the Chevrolet range downwards in the US. Chevrolet head of engineering Earle S. MacPherson was in charge of development. It had a unibody structure, an over-square ohv engine, a strut-type front suspension, small-diameter road wheels, a three-speed gearbox, brake and clutch pedals suspended from the bulkhead rather than floor-mounted, and integrated fender/body styling. It was light and technically advanced, but GM's management cancelled it, stating that it was not economically viable. The anticipated post Second World War US car market recession hadn't materialised. The MacPherson strut, probably the world's most common form of independent suspension, evolved in the GM Cadet project by combining long tubular shock absorbers with external coil springs, and locating them in tall towers that directed the vertical travel of the wheels and also formed the "king pin" or "swivel pin axis" around which the front wheels could turn. It was elegantly simple, with just three links holding the wheel in place - the strut itself, the single-piece transverse lower arm, and the anti-roll bar that doubled as a drag link for the wheel hub. MacPherson took his ideas to Ford instead. They were first used in the French 1948 Ford Vedette. Next in the 1950 British Ford Consul and Zephyr (British mid-size cars, the same size as the Cadet), which owed more to the Cadet than just the MacPherson strut suspension, and caused a sensation when they were launched. In 1953, a miniaturised economy car version, the Ford Anglia 100E was launched in Britain.[31][32]
As Europe and Japan rebuilt from the war, their growing economies led to a steady increase in demand for cheap cars to 'motorise the masses'. Emerging technology allowed economy cars to become more sophisticated. Early post-war economy cars like the VW Beetle, Citroën 2CV, Renault 4CV, and Saab 92 looked extremely minimal; however, they were technologically more advanced than most conventional cars of the time.
The VW featured a 1.1-litre, air-cooled flat four, rear engine with rear-wheel drive, all round fully independent suspension, semi monocoque construction and the ability to cruise on the autobahn for long periods reliably. This cruising ability and engine durability was gained by high top gearing, and by restricting the engine breathing and performance to well below its maximum capability. Production was re-started after the war by the British Army Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers, under Major Ivan Hirst after it was dismissed as valueless for war reparations by the Western Allies. In 1948 Hirst recruited Heinrich Nordhoff to run Volkswagen GmbH and in 1949 ownership was handed over to the West German government.[33][34][35] The Volkswagen Type 1 'Beetle' is the most popular single design of all time.
The 4CV was designed covertly by Renault engineers during the World War II German occupation of France, when under strict orders to design and produce only commercial and military vehicles. Between 1941 and 1944, Renault was under the Technical Directorship of a francophile German installed former Daimler Benz engineer called Wilhelm von Urach who turned a blind eye to the small, economy car project suitable for the period of post war austerity.[36] The design team went against the wishes of Louis Renault who in 1940 believed that post-war Renault should concentrate on mid-range cars.[36][37] Only after a row in May 1941 did Louis Renault approve the project.[36] In October 1944 after the liberation, Louis Renault who was imprisoned on charges of collaboration, died in suspicious circumstances. In January 1945, newly nationalised Renault had officially acquired a new boss, the former resistance hero Pierre Lefaucheux, (he had been acting administrator since September 1944). Lefaucheux had been arrested by the Gestapo in June 1944, and deported to Buchenwald concentration camp. The Gestapo transferred him to Metz for interrogation, but the city was deserted because of the advancing allied front, the Germans abandoned their prisoner. In November 1945 the French government invited Ferdinand Porsche to France looking to relocate the Volkswagen project as part of war reparations. [38] On 15 December 1945, Porsche was invited to consult with Renault about the Renault 4CV. Lefaucheux was enraged that anyone should think the almost production-ready Renault 4CV was in any way inspired by the German Volkswagen, and that the politicians should presume to send Porsche to advise on it. The government insisted on nine meetings with Porsche which took place in rapid succession. Lefaucheux insisted that the meetings would have absolutely no influence on the design of the Renault 4CV, and Porsche cautiously went on record saying that the car would be ready for large scale production in a year. [39] Lefaucheux was a man with contacts, as soon as the 4CV project meetings had taken place, Porsche was arrested in connection with war crimes allegations involving the use of forced labour including French in the Volkswagen plant in Germany. Ferdinand Porsche, despite never facing any sort of trial, spent the next twenty months in a Dijon jail. The 760 cc rear-mounted four-cylinder engine, three-speed manual transmission 4CV was launched at the 1946 Paris Motor Show and went on sale a year later.[40] Volume production was said to have commenced at the company's Parisian Boulogne-Billancourt plant a few weeks before the Paris Motor Show of October 1947, although the cars were in very short supply for the next year or so.[41][41] On the 4CV's launch, it was nicknamed "La motte de beurre" (the lump of butter); this was due to the combination of its shape and the use of surplus paint from the German Army vehicles of Rommel's Afrika Korps, which were a sand-yellow color.[42]
The 375 cc Citroën 2CV had interconnected all round fully independent suspension, rack and pinion steering, radial tyres and front wheel drive with an air-cooled flat twin engine. It was some 10 to 15 MPG (Imperial) more fuel efficient than any other economy car of its time – but with restricted performance to match. It was designed to motorise rural communities where speed was not a requirement. The original design brief had been issued before the Second World War in the mid 1930s. It had been completely redesigned three times, as its market and materials costs had changed drastically during its development period. Engine size increased over time; from 1970 it was a still tiny 602 cc.
The Saab 92 had a transversely mounted, water-cooled two-cylinder, two-stroke based on a DKW design, driving the front wheels. It had aircraft derived monocoque construction, with an aerodynamic cW value (drag coefficient) of 0.30 – not bettered until the 1980s. It was later developed into the Saab 93, Saab 95, and Saab 96. It was produced until 1980. The mechanicals were used in the Saab Sonett sports cars.
Also in the immediate postwar period, the monocoque FR layout Morris Minor was launched in 1948. Because of costs it reused the pre-war side-valve 918 cubic centimetres (56.0 cu in) Morris 8 engine instead of an intended flat-four. It had a strong emphasis on good packaging and roadholding, with independent front suspension and rack and pinion steering, and American influenced styling. 1.3 million had been built by the end of production in 1971. It was designed by Alec Issigonis.
In 1953, in Japan Hino entered the private car market, by manufacturing Renault's Renault 4CV under licence.
While economy cars flourished in Europe and later Japan, the booming postwar American economy combined with the emergence of the suburban and interstate highways in that country led to slow acceptance of small cars. Brief economic recessions saw interest in economical cars wax and wane. During this time, the American auto manufacturers would introduce smaller cars of their own, in 1950 Nash Motors introduced the Rambler designed to be smaller than contemporary cars, yet still accommodate five passengers comfortably. Nash also contracted with British Motor Corporation to build the American designed Metropolitan using existing BMC mechanical components, (the 1.5 Liter engine is a BMC B-Series engine also used in larger sizes in the MG MGA and MG MGB). Imported cars began to appear on the U.S. market during this time to satisfy the demands for true economy cars. An initial late 1940s–early 1950s success in a small way, was the monocoque Morris Minor launched in 1948, with its miniaturized Chevrolet styling. It was underpowered for the long distance roads of the U.S. and especially the freeways that were starting to spread across the country in the 1950s. The first British Motorway did not open until 1959. BMC preferred to develop the higher profit margin MGs for the American market and also worked with Nash and so passed on the opportunity. From the mid-1950s the Volkswagen Beetle using clever and innovative advertising and capitalising on its very high build quality, durability and reliability, was a spectacular success. Having been designed for cruising the autobahns, freeways were no problem for it. It disproved the scepticism of American buyers as to the usefulness of, by their standards, such small cars. Initially the stylish Renault Dauphine derived from the Renault 4CV, looked like it would follow the VWs footsteps, but then was a failure due to mechanical breakdowns and body corrosion. This failure on the U.S. market in the late 1950s, may have harmed the acceptance of small cars generally in America.[43]
In the late 1950s the DDR German Democratic Republic produced its 'peoples car'. The Trabant sold 3 million vehicles in thirty years due to its communist captive market. It had a transverse two-cylinder air-cooled two-stroke engine and front wheel drive, using DKW technology.
In 1957, Fiat in Italy launched the 479 cc 'Nuovo' Fiat 500 designed by Dante Giacosa. It was the first real city car. It had a rear-mounted air-cooled vertical twin engine, and all round independent suspension. Its target market was Italian scooter riders who had settled down and had a young family, and needed their first car. Fiat had also launched the larger 1955 Fiat 600 with a similar layout but with a water-cooled in-line four-cylinder engine, it even had a six-seater people carrier / MPV / mini-van version called the 'Multipla', even though it was about the same size as a modern supermini.
Car body corrosion was a particular problem from the 1950s to the 1980s when cars moved to monocoque or uni-body construction (starting from the 1930s), from a separate Body-on-frame chassis made from thick steel. This relied on the shaped body panels and box sections, like sills/rockers, providing the integrity of the body-shell rather than a separate frame (vehicle) for strength. A light car was a fast and/or economical car. The introduction of newly available computers for structural analysis from the 1960s, with computers like the IBM 360, the thickness of sheet metal in bodyshells was reduced to the minimum needed for structural integrity. However, corrosion prevention / rustproofing, that had not previously been significant because of the thickness of metal and separate chassis, had not kept pace with this new construction technology. The lightest monocoque economy cars would be the most affected by structural corrosion.
The next advance was the 1959 848 cc FF layout Austin Mini from the British Motor Corporation, designed by Alec Issigonis as a response to the first oil crisis, the 1956 Suez Crisis, and the boom in bubble cars and Microcars that followed. It was the first front wheel drive car with a water-cooled in-line four-cylinder engine mounted transversely. This allowed eighty percent of the floor plan for the use of passengers and luggage. The majority of modern cars use this configuration. Its progressive rate rubber sprung independent suspension (Hydrolastic 1964–1971), low centre of gravity, and wheel at each corner with radial tyres, increased the car's grip and handling over all but the most expensive automobiles on the market. The Mini was voted the second most important car of the 20th century after the Ford Model T.[3][7]
Also in 1959 the FR layout DAF 600, with a rear-mounted automatic gearbox, was launched in the Netherlands. The 600 was the first car to have a continuously variable transmission (CVT) system – the innovotive DAF Variomatic.[44] It was the first European economy car with an automatic gearbox. The CVT was continued through the 1960s and 1970s by DAF with the DAF Daffodil, DAF 33, DAF 44, DAF 46, DAF 66 and later by Volvo after they merged with the Volvo 340. The 1960s Austin Mini automatic gearbox (with a conventional epicyclic / torque converter coupling) was much less efficient.
In the 1960s the 750 cc Renault 4 (arguably the first small five-door hatchback, but viewed as a small estate car or station wagon at the time) was launched in France. In layout it was essentially an economy car version of the 1930s designed Citroen Traction Avant Commerciale version. The Commerciale had been smaller than an estate car with a horizontally split two-piece rear door before the second world war. When it was relaunched in 1954 it featured a one-piece top-hinged tailgate. Citroen responded with the 2CV-based 1960 602 cc Citroën Ami and hatchback 1967 Citroën Dyane. Also in France, in 1966 Renault launched the midrange Renault 16 - although it was not an economy car, it is widely recognised as the first non-commercial mass-market hatchback car. The hatchback was a leap forward in practicality. It was adopted as a standard feature on most European cars, with saloons declining in popularity apart from at the top of the market over the next twenty years. Small economy cars that were more limited in load carrying ability than larger cars benefited most - long light loads like furniture could be hung out of the back of the car.
The 1960s Toyota Corolla, Datsun Sunny refined the conventional small rear wheel drive economy cars as postwar international competition and trade increased. Japan also codified a legal standard for extremely economical small cars, known as the keicar: The first generation on the market were all rear-engined, rear drive RR layout cars. From the end of the 1960s Keicars switched to front-engined, front wheel drive FF layout. This market has thrived ever since, with the cars increasing in size and engine capacity, including sports cars such as the Honda Beat and Suzuki Cappuccino, and even miniaturised MPVs. Japan also instituted the "shaken" road-worthiness testing regime, that required progressively more expensive maintenance, involving the replacement of entire vehicle systems, that was unnecessary for safety, year on year, to devalue older cars and promote new cars on their home market that were available for low prices. There are very few cars in Japan more than five years old.
In 1964 Fiat designed the first car with a transverse engine and an end on gearbox (put into limited production and available as a hatchback) - the Autobianchi Primula,[45] that was developed into the Autobianchi A112 and Autobianchi A111. They were only sold in mainland Europe, where they were popular for decades, but unknown in the UK. The 1967 Simca 1100 (who had previously used Fiat technology under licence), the 1969 Fiat 128, and the 1971 Fiat 127 regarded as the first 'super-mini' brought this development to a wider audience. This layout gradually superseded the gearbox in the engine's sump of BMC Austin Morris and later Peugeot PSA X engine, until the only car in production with this transmission layout by the 1990s, was the then long obsolescent Austin (Rover) Mini.
The launch in the 1960s of the Mini Cooper to exploit the exceptional grip and handling of the Austin Mini, along with its success in rallying, (Monte Carlo Rally in particular[46]) and circuit racing, first showed that economy cars could be effective sports cars. It made traditional sports cars like the MG Midget look very old fashioned. The rear wheel drive Ford Lotus Cortina and Ford Escort 1300GT and RS1600, along with the Vauxhall Viva GT and Brabham SL/90 HB in the late 1960s opened up this market still further in Britain. Meanwhile, from the 1950s Abarth tuned Fiats and Gordini tuned Renaults did the same in Italy and France.
The 1960s also saw the swan song of the rear-engined rear wheel drive car RR layout:
The 874 cc Hillman Imp - UK.
The relatively unsuccessful attempt at diversification of the Volkswagen Type 3, Volkswagen Type 4, and the 583 cc NSU Prinz - West Germany.
The 956–1289 cc Renault 8/10 and 777–1294 cc Simca 1000 - France.
The 2296 cc Chevrolet Corvair - USA.
The first 1960s air-cooled two-stroke in-line twin-engined generation of the 360 cc Keicar class - the 1958 Subaru 360, Mitsubishi 360 1961, Mazda Carol 1962, Daihatsu Fellow 1966, Honda N360 and the Suzuki Fronte 1967 along with the non Keicar, Renault based Hino Motors 4CV was replaced by the 1961 Contessa - Japan.
In Communist Eastern Europe there was the Škoda 1000MB/1100MB that was developed into the 1970s Škoda S100/110 and then the 1970s–1980s Škoda 105/120/125 Estelle - Czechoslovakia.
The poorly regarded Ukrainian-made Zaporozhets - USSR.
This layout had better interior space utilisation than front engine rear wheel drive cars, and a better ride than those with a live rear beam axle. It was an affordable way to produce a car with all independent suspension, without the need for expensive constant-velocity joints needed by front wheel drive cars, or axle arrangements of FR layout cars. But, they could have road-holding issues due to unfavorable weight distribution and wheel camber changes (rear wheel tuck under), of the lower-cost swing axle rear suspension design. These were highlighted and a little exaggerated by Ralph Nader. These problems were ameliorated on later Beetles and were eliminated on the second-generation Chevrolet Corvair with the switch to a four-link, fully independent rear suspension.
In the US market, 1960 brought the Chevrolet Corvair, Ford Falcon, and Plymouth Valiant into the market segment dominated by Rambler. These vehicles were lower priced and offered better fuel economy than American full-size offerings. The Corvair, Chevrolet's rear-engined compact car, was originally brought to market to compete directly with the VW Beetle. Ford Falcon and Plymouth Valiant were conventional, compact six-cylinder sedans that competed directly with the American Rambler. In 1962 Chevrolet introduced the Chevy II line of conventional compacts first offered with 4- and six-cylinder engines. These American vehicles were still much larger than fuel-efficient economy cars popular in Europe and Japan. The Corvair is twenty inches longer, seven inches wider, eight hundred pounds heavier and includes an engine almost twice the size of the Beetle that inspired it.[47][48] Corvair offered VW's rear engine advantages of traction, light steering, and flat floor with Chevrolet's six-passenger room and six-cylinder power American buyers were accustomed to. Later versions of the Corvair were considered sports cars rather than 'economy' cars including Monza Spyder models, which featured one of the first production car turbocharged engines. The Corvair Monza inspired the Ford Mustang, introduced in 1964, establishing the "pony car" class which included Corvair's replacement, the Chevrolet Camaro in 1967, continuing the American muscle car boom started in mid-1960s.
The 1973 oil crisis renewed emphasis on economy of vehicle operation, especially in the United States with its greater distances, arguably the nation hardest hit because of the prevalence of large, fuel-thirsty cars. At the same time, new emissions and safety regulations were being implemented requiring major and costly changes to domestic vehicle design and construction. The sales of imported economy cars continued to rise from the sixties. The first response by domestic American car makers included the FR layout cars, the AMC Gremlin, Chevrolet Vega, and Ford Pinto.
AMC was determined to have the first subcompact offering and 1970 AMC Gremlin sales began six months ahead of the all-new 1971 models from GM and Ford.[49][50] The Gremlin used the AMC Hornet's existing design with a shortened wheelbase and "chopped" tail, and had an important low-price advantage.[51]
The Chevrolet Vega, introduced in September 1970, was GM's first subcompact, economy car. Nearly two million were sold over its seven-year production run,[52] due in part to its low price and fuel economy.[53] By 1974, the Vega was among the top 10 best-selling American-made cars,[54] but the aluminum-block engine developed a questionable reputation.[55] Chevrolet increased the engine warranty to 50,000 miles (80,000 km) to all Vega owners, which proved costly for Chevrolet. The 1976 Vega had extensive engine and body durability improvements and a five-year/60,000 mi (97,000 km) engine warranty.[56] After a three-year sales decline, the Vega and its aluminum engine were discontinued at the end of the 1977 model year.
Pontiac's lowest-priced car was a re-badged Vega variant exclusively available in Canada for the 1973-'74 model years, and introduced in the U.S. the following year. The final 1977 models featured the first use of Pontiac's Iron Duke inline-4 engine.[57] Lower priced versions of the Chevrolet Monza were introduced for 1978 and rebadged variants of the discontinued Vega were also added to the Monza line - the Monza wagon using the Vega Kammback body was sold for the 1978-79 model years, and the Monza S hatchback, a price leader model using the Vega Hatchback body, was also offered for the 1978 model year.[58]
The Ford Pinto was introduced one day after the Vega. It was small, economical, and a top seller. However, it was proven to have design and safety issues. The Pinto made Time magazine's 'The 50 worst cars of all time list' - not because it was a particularly bad car, but because it had a rather volatile nature. The car tended to erupt in flames in rear-end collisions. The Pinto is at the end of one of autodom's most notorious paper trails—several Ford company memos presented as evidence during the civil trials revealed that these remedies were discussed, with the conclusion that to shut down production and retool would be too expensive. Most damaging to Ford were memos found and published by author-researcher Mark Dowie in the magazine Mother Jones that detailed a cost analysis of corporate liability in the event of having to compensate crash victims.[59] The "Ford Pinto memo" ruthlessly calculated the cost of reinforcing the rear end ($121 million) versus the potential payout to victims (US$50 million).[60] The Ford Pinto engine though was successful in European Fords for twenty years, in successive mid and large European sized mainstay models of the; UK Ford Cortina, German Ford Taunus, the Ford Sierra, and the Ford Granada amongst others.
The Chevrolet Chevette was introduced in September 1975 and produced through 1987. It was a successful and 'Americanized' design from experienced, (but technologically conservative) Opel, GM's German subsidiary. The Auto Editors of Consumer Guide said, "In its dozen years on the market, Chevette had earned a reputation for being a simple, straightforward car offering high fuel economy and steadfast reliability. It left in its wake a sea of happy owners, and many no doubt mourned its passing."[61] Ford followed suit with the Ford Escort.
Chevrolet offered three new small economy cars in the 1980s to replace the Chevette: the Chevrolet Sprint, a three-cylinder Suzuki-built hatchback, The Chevrolet Spectrum built by Isuzu and the Chevrolet Nova built by NUMMI in California, a GM-Toyota joint venture. Chevrolet offered the Geo brand in the 1990s featuring the Suzuki-built Metro, the Isuzu-built Storm, and the NUMMI-built Prizm.
Captive imports were the other response by U.S. car makers to the increase in popularity of imported economy cars in the 1970s and 80s. These were cars bought from overseas subsidiaries or from companies in which they held a significant shareholding. GM, Ford, and Chrysler sold imports for the U.S. market. The Buick Opel, Ford Cortina, Mercury Capri, Ford Festiva, and Dodge Colt are examples.
Technologies that developed during the post-war era, such as disc brakes, overhead-cam engines and radial tires, had become cheap enough to be used in economy cars at this time (radials began to be adopted in the 1950s and 60s in Europe). This led to cars such as the 1974 Mk 1 Volkswagen Golf designed by Giorgetto Giugiaro, Fiat 128 and 1972 Honda Civic. The Civic's CVCC (Compound Vortex Controlled Combustion) Stratified charge engine engine debuted in 1975 and was offered alongside the standard Civic engine. The CVCC engine had a head design that promoted cleaner, more efficient combustion, eliminating a need for a catalytic converter to meet emissions standards - nearly every other U.S. market car for that year needed exhausts with catalytic converters.[62] The Japanese, who had previously competed on price, equipment and reliability with conservative designs, were starting to make advanced, globally competitive cars.
Some previously exotic technology, electronic fuel injection, became affordable, which allowed the production of high-performance hot hatch sport compacts like the 1976 Volkswagen Golf GTI. This car combined economy of use and a practical hatchback body, with the performance and driving fun of a traditional sports car several times its price.
Also introduced in 1976 was the 1.5 L VW Golf diesel—the first small diesel hatchback. It used new Bosch rotary mechanical diesel injection pump technology. Also in 1976, Ford of Europe (produced by the merging of Ford national operations in Europe) launched their first front-wheel-drive small car, the Ford Fiesta, having gained experience from the Ford of Germany 1960s European mid sized 1960s Ford Taunus P4 and Ford of Brazil Ford Corcel.
In 1980, Fiat introduced the Guigaro-designed Mk 1 Fiat Panda. It was originally designed to be produced in China at its 1970s level of industrialisation. It was a utilitarian front-wheel-drive supermini with Fiat standard transverse engine and end-on gearbox. It featured mostly flat body panels and flat glass.
In 1982 GM launched their first front-wheel-drive small economy car, the Opel Corsa/Vauxhall Nova in Europe. Their first European market front wheel drive car, the Vauxhall Astra/Opel Kadett D, Golf-sized car was introduced in 1979.
In 1983 Fiat launched the next step forward in small car design, the Fiat Uno. It was designed by Giorgetto Giugiaro's ItalDesign. The tall, square body utilising a Kamm tail achieved a drag coefficient of 0.34, and it won much praise for an airy interior space and fuel economy. It incorporated many packaging lessons learnt from Giugiaro's 1978 Lancia Megagamma concept car, (the first modern people carrier-MPV-mini-van)—but miniaturised.[63] Its tall car, high-seating packaging is imitated by every small car today. It showed that not just low sleek cars could be aerodynamic, but small boxy well packaged cars could be too. It was voted Car of the Year in 1984.[64]
Also in 1983 Peugeot launched the Pininfarina-styled Peugeot 205. While not as radical as the Uno in body design, it was also very aerodynamic. It was the first European supermini with a diesel engine - the XUD. It provided performance of a 1.4 L petrol with economy—55 miles per imperial gallon (5.1 L/100 km; 46 mpg-US)—that was better than the base 1 L petrol version. It could, like most diesel engines, last for several hundred thousand miles with regular servicing.[65] It was, along with the larger (also XUD powered) Citroën BX, the beginning of the start of the boom in diesel sales in Europe. The 205 GTI was as popular as the Golf GTI in Europe. The 205 was named "Car of the Decade" in the UK, by CAR magazine in 1990.
In 1993, Fiat launched the conservatively styled Fiat Cinquecento. It replaced the first Fiat Panda and the aged 1970s Fiat 126 which was developed from the 1950s Fiat 500. But the real breakthrough in smallcar-design was the 1993 Renault Twingo which was a revolution in styling by being the first 'one box' small car. Both had the interior space of a much larger car. They relaunched the city car market in Europe, for decades the only competitors in this market were the Austin Mini and the Fiat 126.
Today economy cars have specialised into market niches. The small city car, the inexpensive-to-run but not necessarily very small general economy car, and the performance derivatives that capitalise on light weight of the cars on which they are based. Some models that started as economy cars such as the Volkswagen Golf and Toyota Corolla, have increased in size and moved upmarket over several generations, and their makers have added smaller new models in their original market niches. The City car market in Europe in recent years has seen increased competition with the launch of the Toyota Yaris, Citroën C1/Peugeot 107/Toyota Aygo (built in the same factory), the Mercedes-Benz A-Class, aluminium Audi A2, Fiat Panda, Kia Picanto, Chevrolet Matiz, Volkswagen Fox, Smart ForTwo, Smart Forfour, Mitsubishi Colt, Ford Ka, BMW Mini and Fiat Nuova 500.
The Toyota iQ, designed in France, went on sale in January 2009 in the UK. It follows the Issigonis philosophy of packaging, with innovations including a flat under floor fuel tank and specially located steering rack and final drive unit to maximise floor space for passengers. It seats four adults in a car 2.985 m (117.5 in)long, 1.680 m (66.1 in) wide, and 1.5 m (59.1 in) tall, and achieves 65.69 mpg-imp (4.300 L/100 km; 54.70 mpg-US) with a 99g/km CO2 rating. It also achieved the top Euro NCAP 5/5 stars safety rating. Another development in recent years in Europe, has been the launch of small supermini based people carriers like the Renault Modus, Citroën C3 Picasso, Fiat Idea, Nissan Note, and the Vauxhall/Opel Meriva that is also produced in Brazil. Their tall packaging designs offer the interior space of a larger car. The higher seating increases visibility for the driver that is useful in urban driving. They also make it easier to get in and out, which is useful for those with personal mobility problems, such as the elderly and the disabled.
The conflicting design goals for economy cars — small size with maximum usable interior space; low cost and light weight with acceptable safety performance, light cars have a higher ratio of unsprung suspension mass to sprung mass which affects ride quality, and the need for light materials with acceptable durability, continue to stimulate innovative development. Technology improvements such as electronic engine management, adoption of four valves per cylinder, variable valve timing, direct injection of petrol/Gasoline and diesel, hybrid power, and smoother, more powerful diesel engines with very high pressure electronic injection, have dramatically improved fuel economy and performance.[66] The latest technologies to improve efficiency are down-sized engines and automatic engine stop-start. Automatic engine stop-start systems like VWs BlueMotion,[67] shut the engine down when the car is stopped to reduce idling emissions and boost economy, and it is now mandatory not to idle unnecessarily in cities in Germany. It is an updated version of the 1980s VW 'Formel E' system that was developed into the 1990s VW 'Ecomatic' system.[68][69][70][71] Also extremely important, is the application of turbo-charging to down-sized engines in order to turn its efficiency benefits into fuel economy / emission benefits instead of for performance.[72][73] The recent Fiat 'Multiair' system, is an electro-hydraulic development of variable valve timing that allows the engine management computer to control valve timing, improving engine efficiency, giving better torque, power, economy, and emissions.[74][75] Safety design is a particular challenge in a small, lightweight car. This is an area where Renault has been particularly successful.[76] Sport compacts and Hot hatches have developed into a their own competitive genre, although their economy has been compromised, these models offer higher performance because of the lightness of the platforms that they are based upon.
As an alternative to manual synchromesh gearboxes, automatic continuously variable transmission (CVT) gearboxes are optional on some economy cars, such as Audi, Honda, and the MINI ONE and MINI Cooper. Tata Motors from India, recently announced that it too would use a variomatic transmission in its US$2,500 Nano.[77] CVT application to economy cars was pioneered by Fiat, Ford, and Van Doorne in the 1980s. Rather than the pulled rubber drive belts as used in the past by DAF, the modern transmission is made much more durable by the use of electronic control and steel link belts pushed by their pulleys.
A crucial difference between the North American car market and the markets of Europe and Japan is the price of fuel. Fuel is heavily taxed and therefore relatively costly in most first-world markets outside North America; fuel is about two and a half times the price in the UK than the US. Fuel costs are also a much higher proportion of income, due to generally higher wages and lower living costs in the US. Only during occasional fuel price spikes such as those of 1973, 1979–81, and 2008-9 have North American drivers been motivated to seek levels of fuel economy considered ordinary outside North America.
The growth of developing countries has also created a new market for inexpensive new cars. Unlike in the postwar period this demand has not been met by utilitarian but advanced 'peoples cars'. Adaptation of standard or obsolete models from the first world has been the norm. Production of car models superseded in first-world markets is often moved to cost-sensitive markets like South Africa and Brazil; the Citi Golf is an example.
Some mainstream European auto makers have developed models specifically for developing countries, such as the Fiat Palio, Volkswagen Gol and Dacia Logan. Renault has teamed up with India's Mahindra and Mahindra to produce a low-cost car in the range of US$2,500 to US$3,000. The Tata Nano launched in January 2008, in India by Tata Motors, may mark the beginning of the return of so-called "people's cars" because of its low announced price - claimed by Tata as the world's cheapest car at US$2,500. The Nano, like the 1950s Fiat 500, has a rear engine and was styled by Italians. It is designed to get whole families off scooters and onto four wheels. Tata has also announced plans to export their Tata Indica that was formerly sold in Europe as the City Rover.
The narrow profit margins of economy cars can cause financial instability for their manufacturers. Historically, Volkswagen in the 1970s and Ford in the 1920s almost collapsed because of their one model economy car business strategy. Ford was saved by the Model A and Volkswagen was saved by the Golf. Ford started the Mercury and Lincoln brands to diversify its product range. VW moved away from the narrow profit margins of economy cars, by expanding its range so that now it spans from very small city cars like the Volkswagen Fox to Audis and Bentleys, and it also owns SEAT and Skoda.
China has become one of the fastest growing car markets, recently overtaking the US as the largest producer of cars in the world. It is followed by India with a preference towards inexpensive, basic cars, but they are both moving upmarket in their tastes as their economic rise continues.
India is becoming a global outsourcing production centre for small cars.[78] The Suzuki Alto and Hyundai i10 are already being exported to Europe from India. In March 2010 at Chennai, the Renault-Nissan Alliance opened a US$990 million plant to produce 400,000 units per year at full production. Chennai formerly known as Madras, the capital of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu, is located on the Coromandel Coast of the Bay of Bengal. The first vehicle to be produced at the plant will be the new Nissan Micra, for the Indian market as well as for export to over 100 countries in Europe, the Middle East and Africa. Production of the Micra has been re-located from the UK and other developed countries. In 2011, the plant will start production of the Renault Koleos and Fluence, for the Indian market based on the same platform.[79][80]
Note: This list includes vehicles which at least at some point were economy cars and may be less economical to this day than at time of their introduction.