Steve Martin would absolutely love the Toyota iQ concept, which debuted at the recent Frankfurt auto show. That miniscule micronaut will now see light of day as possibly the smallest car ever sold in Europe (that just might be hyperbole, but we're sticking with it) starting in 2009.
City cars are all the rage on the Continent. Ultra-compacts with the camel-like ability to run forever on miniscule amounts of fuel. Cars like the Toyota Yaris and even smaller Aygo (sorry, Europe only for that model). The streets of London and Paris are awash in them. Just go. Go and look.
OK, you'll probably have to take our word on this, especially with the current dollar to Euro rate, but 100,000 Aygos per year speak volumes. And smaller is often better in the old world. So let's get small.
Reuters reports the iQ concept will be developed as a new model for 2009. It should measure less than 3 meters on length (less than 10 feet for the metrically disinclined), seat four and will be powered by a one-liter gas engine, with a diesel option likely. Whereas the miniscule Aygo is jointly manufactured with Peugeot Citroen, where it also resides as the 107 and C1 respectively, the new model will be solely Toyota's property and built in Japan. Toyota expects to sell in excess of 100,000 cars in Europe alone, with the possibility of sales in Japan as well.
Toyota's European sales have grown steadily over the past decade, with an expected 5 to 10 percent leap in 2009. Fuel efficiency, reliability and cost are likely the main contributing factors to that growth. In that respect, the company's European reputation doesn't sound too far removed from its position here in the good ol' US of A. Except don't expect to see an iQ on these shores, at least not for some time. Minicars have yet to prove any real viability in the American market, although the expectations and needs of American buyers slowly seem to be falling more into alignment with the Europeans'.
Toyota's Yaris, Honda's Fit and Nissan's Versa have proven tiny yet clever Japanese cars have buyers in America. Maybe once we as a market get used to the idea of cars that weigh less than two gross tons and ride four feet off the road, Toyota just might see fit to try out something even tinier and cleverer. Just like the 1970s all over again. Now where's that banjo and arrow through the head?