Little rippers

When it comes to new cars, little things mean a lot, writes ALASTAIR SLOANE

Once, a small car was small. A medium-size car was, well, medium; and a big car was, um, sort of big. A small car was a Toyota Starlet. A medium car was a Mazda 626. A big car was a Holden Commodore or Ford Falcon.

There was no middle ground. Buyers shopped around for one or the other.

But in New Zealand's modest new-car market the boundaries are becoming blurred.

Take Mitsubishi's latest advertising campaign for its four-door Lancer sedan.

Once upon a time the Mirage was Mitsubishi's small car. The Lancer was the medium model and the V3000 the biggie. Simple.

But now Mitsubishi is calling the Lancer a small car. Yet it's bigger than the Mirage.

The Toyota Corolla is of similar size to the Lancer but it's called a medium model.

The Nissan Pulsar shares similar dimensions to them both, but it's called a small car. Nissan's medium car is the Primera; its big car is the Maxima. Simple again.

Volkswagen's small car is the Polo; its medium car is the Golf and its big car the Passat. But the Golf is similar in size to the Pulsar. So why is the Pulsar a small car and the Golf a medium car?

Confused? The answer lies with the marketing people, who slip a medium model into the small market when the small market seems to be picking up.

But when the medium market is stronger, the medium model stays where it is. The small car is left to fend for itself.

But it mightn't always be that way. Worldwide trends show the market for small cars is slowly gaining strength. It has much to do with population drifts into cities, where small cars, especially today's models with dual airbags and anti-lock brakes, are ideally suited.

Honda's Logo falls into this category, as do Daihatsu's Mira and Hyundai's Atoz.

The Logo is selling particularly well in Auckland. Its constant variable transmission, mated to the 1.3-litre engine, is ideal for city driving, where traditional automatics "hunt" under acceleration to find the optimum gear.

The Daihatsu Mira, a crackerjack five-speed manual with more entertaining oomph from its 1-litre engine than that provided by the 1295cc motor of the legendary Mini Cooper S, is another success, especially at under $17,000.

Toyota is confident of the future of the small car, so much so that it is aiming its new Yaris, the replacement for the Starlet, at world markets. Toyota has even talked of one day dropping the Corolla in favour of another smaller model.

The Yaris is expected to go on sale in New Zealand early next year. Toyota will soon ship in the first model for evaluation but already response in Britain and Europe to the new model has the market leader buzzing.

The three and five-door Yaris is a completely new car and was designed by Europeans for Europeans. It will probably come with a clutchless manual transmission.

Toyota believes the Yaris redefines the perception people have of the interior of a small car and belies the car giant's reputation for conservative design.

The Yaris' high roof and wide cabin, combined with its short overhangs, make for a roomy cockpit and the big door apertures aid entry and exit.

The instruments mounted in the centre of the dash are vacuum fluorescent - so the glowing three-dimensional display appears suspended in space.

The car's extra width and tall cabin allows bigger seats which, in turn, provide more shoulder room and an upright seating position. Toyota says the Yaris will be less taxing to drive.

Hunting down the right name took Toyota a year. It wanted a handle based on European languages.

It compiled a list of hundreds of possible names and ran them past people in surveys in Germany, Britain, France, Italy and Spain.

The names were whittled down to a short list of 12 and checked for copyright and meaning.

Toyota liked Yaris best, saying it appealed to younger people but suggested maturity and prestige.

European models of the Yaris will be built in Britain and at a billion-dollar new plant in northern France.

The New Zealand model is expected to come out of Japan.