Mercedes Benz: Smart which stands for Swatch Mercedes ART was started when the CEO of Swatch had an idea for a fun, stylish city car. He began the project under his own company and with the help of Mercedes created a prototype known as the "eco-Sprinter" which was designed by the Mercedes Benz art department in California. Ever since its debut in 1998 the Smart Fortwo has been king of the small car market. Its high price in its first year of US sales did not stop people from flocking to the dealers to buy them. Now the price has come down as more trim levels have been made available starting at $15,000.

 

 

 

Fiat: One of the most highly anticipated cars to come to North America in 2010, the Fiat 500 finally came stateside after Fiat's acquisition of Chrysler. Fiat 500 sales have also been consistently high and are a common sight in any major city now. Owners have praised the chic interior styling, good fuel economy and the way the car "zips" around their cities. Fiat have begun to offer slightly larger crossover variants to cater to people who may have larger families or need cargo space. Its retro styling pays homage to the original model from the 50's and it is largely considered one of the very first city cars. Tuners often prefer the more powerful Abarth version.

 

 

 

MINI: Coming onto the scene in 2000 the Mini Cooper has been a popular choice for those who want a smaller car but don't want to sacrifice fun. The Cooper and the supercharged Cooper S which both come in convertible form and offer superb handling. The MINI brand in the U.S. is possibly the most diverse offering city cars. Mini offers 2 door, 4 door, hardtop, convertable, wagon and crossover versions of the Mini Cooper solidifying its place among the small car greats.

 

 

 

Chevrolet: One area where Chevy beats out its American rivals is in the small city car market. Ford nor Dodge offer as large an array of small city cars and this is a growing sector in which GM is leading. The Chevy Spark is one of the cheapest cars on the market now selling in its cheapest form at around $13,000 and gets to around $15,000 fully loaded. Developed by GM Korea as the Daewoo Matiz, the Spark found its way to North America after high sales in Mexico and South America. Its larger cousin the Chevy Sonic also based on a GM Korea Daewoo design has also sold well. The Sonic replaced the Aveo and comes in both Sedan and Hatchback form.

 

 

 

Ford: Previously offering many small cars, Ford has only one offering in this segment the Fiesta. The Fiesta also comes in Hatchback and Sedan form. Perhaps the most popular form of the Fiesta is the highest trim level ST Version which offers a stiffer suspension, racing tuned 1.6L engine which could propel this car to 136 mph. It is often praised as a fun car so much so it won Top Gear's Car of the Year award for 2013. It is rumored Ford has noticed this gap and plans to offer an even cheaper car to slot lower than the Fiesta.

 

 

 

Toyota: The Scion brand was created to target younger, first time, car buyers and Toyota decided to launch its IQ under Scion branding in the US. Scion has called the IQ a "good lesson" in that many people were curious and interested in the car, and wanted the excellent 36 MPG but were not willing to pay the rather high price of $17,000. In Europe that would be a fair price, but in the US buyers looking for a car in this bracket could get a Fiat 500 for that price or a Smart car for even cheaper. Toyota decided to pull the IQ with 2015 being the last year available. This has led to the car being available used for under $5,000 on used car lots. Toyota sells the cheaper Yaris in higher numbers which is slightly larger and is offered as both sedan and hatchback.

 

 

 

Honda: The origin behind the Honda Fit is the platform at Honda called "Honda Global Small Car" which outlines a vehicle which can be sold internationally without many changes. The result was the Honda Fit or Honda Jazz as it is known in Europe, Oceania the Middle East and Africa. It won the Japanese Car of the Year the same year it debuted in 2001. The Fit differs from other small cars in the sense that it has a "monospace". The interior of a Honda Fit feels like one space, i.e no front or rear. The backseats fold up off of the floor offering increased luggage carrying capacity. It remains one of the most popular cars sold in Japan selling over 100,000 every year while U.S. sales are consistent with about 50,000 annually.

 

 

 

Nissan: The outgoing Versa Hatchback was replaced with the Nissan Note which was sold internationally but not in the U.S. Rebranded as the Nissan Versa Note it is a more versitile but similarly priced version of the Nissan Versa. It has become a popular choice due to the good fuel economy from its small 1.6L 4 Cyl engine which is often paired with a CVT4-Speed Transmission which makes Fuel Economy even better. The Versa Note comes in 5 Trim Levels with the top of the line SR model added in 2015 due to good sales.

 

 

 

Hyundai: Recent improvements at Hyundai have boosted sales as build quality was previously one of the biggest reasons for low sales at Hyundai. Beginning in 2013 Hyundai hired former design artists from Audi to give their lineup a fresh new look and experts from BMW to assist with improving build quality and the results have paid off with the Hyundai Accent one of the most popular models sold to first time car buyers. The accent is a very easy car to drive and gets 9/10 from Kelly Blue Book on Build Quality and Reliability. The very affordable price of $14,000 combined with 38 MPG has made the Accent one of the most popular small cars on the market. It sales consistently well with its Kia Rio twin which sells for a similar price.

 

 

 

Mitsubishi: Starting at $12,000 the Mirage is the pinnacle of affordability. The Mirage returned to the US in 2013 after it was discontinued in 2003. Even the older model was well known to be a well built A to B basic transportation vehicle. Its 1.0L engine only produces 78 horsepower which is adequate for city driving and has enough power to keep up on the highway. Getting an excellent fuel economy of 43 MPG it is certainly a car for those who want to save on gas. The car scored a good 9.5/10 from Kelley Blue Book on Build Quality, Reliability and Fuel Economy.

 

 

 

Which would you purchase for the driving in the big city?