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Hatchbacks try to entice Americans with Higher MPG
Filed under: Miscellaneous, Hatchbacks
Besides disco, gas lines, and trickle-down economics, the 1970s and ‘80s gave us the hatchback. Back then these cars were austere and looked and felt cheap. They mostly came with two-doors and were just what the doctor ordered because of the gas crisis. But soon gas prices leveled off and we turned away from the hatchback and toward the SUV.
But, as they say, everything old is new again.
Because of the current economic situation that includes higher gas prices again, the hatchback is back and in vogue. They are being used like very tiny SUVs. The hatchback along with fold down seats and a tailgate, makes it a vehicle that can haul cargo.
Now with the growing demand in such cars Consumer Reports has tested six hatchbacks -- the Volkswagen Rabbit, the Subaru Impreza Outback Sport, Toyota Matrix, the Saturn Astra, the Mini Cooper Clubman and the Scion xD.
Out of the six, Consumer Reports recommends the Rabbit and the Outback Sport.
Our take? Americans are abandoning SUVs for smaller, more fuel-efficent crossover. Yet hatchbacks and wagons offer near same functionality and space as crossovers but with even better fuel economy. May there actually be a future where even crossovers are a dying breed?
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