A 1980 Accord was smaller and lighter than anything on the road today, maybe even a Miata. Yet now, they are trying to turn the Accord into a Lexus, even though consumers never asked for that. The manufacturers just go ahead and make each new generation bigger and bigger, simply because they want to have a selling point for their advertising......Not because consumers actually demanded it. It's pretty fucking sad.

I disagree. Manufacturers are changing their produce based on buying habits, Most people want bigger cars, power windows and seats, leather, etc, etc if they think they can afford it. Sure there are people who buy stripped down cars, mostly because they want as cheap as car as they can get, But I'd bet it's not a very big % of buyers.

Sure, people want luxury features, but do they really "want" larger dimensions? If you are looking for a 4-door sedan, and you don't have any kids or carry back-seat passengers very often, what is the point of large size?

I'm just going by the trends I've read about.

IMO most people if they could, would get bigger cars over smaller cars. Now that wouldn't include people who like small sports cars, and probably a lot of people who struggle in traffic and parking might pick smaller cars, but most everyone else, if there wasn't a penality, would get a bigger car.

Excuse me but for an extra 30 cents you can supersize your order.

Would you like the combo deal?

Honda didn't make large cars for quite a while. They turned the Accord in to a large car while giving people who didn't need the space the option of buying a Civic. Now that the Civic has become a larger car as well you have the option of buying a Fit. Toyota did the same thing with the Camry, Corolla, and now the Yaris. You may not like it but the numbers don't lie, the Camry and Accord were the two best selling cars of 2008 in America. They were #1 and #2 respectively and beat out the Corolla (#3) and Civic (#4). Apparently people do want the larger size. Of course, all of them were outsold by the Silverado and F-150 when you add trucks in the list.

"Apparently people do want the larger size".........Maybe only because the large cars are the only ones with real luxury or performance features anymore. Compare the Fit to the Civic, the Civic offers a performance version (the Si) that is actually pretty fast, the Fit doesn't. So, a young performance enthusiast is "forced" to buy the Civic Si instead of a Fit, even though he may have preferred something smaller. Same thing with the Accord. Many Accord buyers might have preferred a smaller car, but they did not buy a Civic because it was not available with all the luxury features that the Accord offers.

How many Sis do you see on the road vs. standard Civics. Even if every person who bought an Si would have bought a performance version of the Fit instead, you are still dealing with a small number compared to those who bought a standard Civic over a Fit.

What luxury features does the Accord offer that the Civic doesn't? You can get navigation, bluetooth, leather, heated seats, and XM radio in a Civic. What more are buyers getting in an Accord other than space, especially when you consider they are paying a $6k premium for a similarly equipped Accord?

Yes, but the motorcycle is a choice, that many in government seem to be trying to take away...and at the same time, force the prius and other econo boxes on us.

As someone who drives tens of thousands of miles on Interstates every year, I am not going out in the middle of those overloaded 18 wheelers in a prius.

Get the trucks off the road and you might see more response for the small car.

people who ride motorcycles worried about driving small cars......:idk::chug: