How CAFE Standards killed off Small Cars (Especially Subaru)

Have you noticed that there basically aren't any small cars made any more?

Or that lots of cars that used to be small, just keep getting bigger?

The WRX is a perfect example here.  From about 2008 on, the WRX and STI have continued to get longer and wider.

Have you ever wondered why?

We have, and when we dug in to try to figure out what the reason was, it was pretty surprising.  

Lots of people would love it if Subaru would come out with a new version of the GC Impreza, but it turns out that if they did, it could put them out of business.

Not because no one would buy them, but because of all of the fines that they would have to pay.

It all relates to the Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards, and the fact that a vehicles footprint are now part of the calculation.

Thanks for watching and Stay Tuned!

We dive into a lot of information in this video, and if you want to check out some of the links that we reference, here are most of them:

Wikipedia page on CAFE Standards

NHTSA page on CAFE standards

Summary of Energy Independence and Security Act

US Departement of Transportation CAFE Standards

Freedom Means Affordable Cars Initiative