New Wave RWD

First Hyundai introduces their Genesis Coupe, then we hear about Toyota and Subaru cooking up a sporty car, now it seems the long rumored successor to the Nissan Silvia may be on its way. We are looking at what may be an exploding new category, small rear wheel drive coupes. The US market has been deprived of RWD cars for years, especially small and affordable ones. For as long as I can remember the only small RWD cars in the US that weren't sports cars (2 seats) have been BMW's, and to some extent Mercedes not exactly affordable. Sure there was the Miata and now GM's Saturn Sky and Pontiac Solstice. But those are roadsters, made for the wind in your hair experience.

Toyota's car will likely be a venture between themselves and their new interest Subaru. The car is likely to feature a Subaru boxer engine. So far we hear that both Toyota and Subaru will have their own versions, with Subaru fans hoping and praying for AWD. The Toyota version will be a modern day Carolla Levin, a Japanese cult classic. As with the Mustang/Camaro it wouldn't be right if one historic model got re-introduced with out a old rival showing up. We've been hearing about a new Nissan Silvia for years but now it seems more likely than ever. The new car would be based on a smaller version of the Z car chassis that seems to underpin every other Nissan product nowadays. This car will could fit nicely underneath the Z which has grown fat and ugly. Finally Hyundai comes form left field with their Genesis Coupe. We've known Hyundai wanted to be taken seriously as a maker of fine automobiles, so they created a RWD sedan to compete (on some level) with BMW and Mercedes. It seems that along with the sedan they made a coupe which will become a quasi Mustang competitor. So far the car looks pretty bad ass, which is something nobody would have expected from Hyundai, ever.

I'm traditionally not a fan of Japanese cars. But excited with the prospects of this small RWD trend. It's likely that the rising fuel prices have driven Americans away form SUV's and larger vehicles. So we will see sales grow in on the smaller side of the spectrum in every category. More over I'm excited about other companies jumping into the fray. GM already has their Kappa twins, and there upcoming Alpha small RWD car that will replace the Pontiac G6 and Cadillac BLS. Mazda has their Miata, RX8 and possibly a new RX7 on the way. But a lot of other manufactures don't seem to be jumping in. Whatever happens I say unlike SUV's their can't be too many entrants into this new category!