What would it take to make small cars desirable?

[bones33]

What would it take to make small cars desirable for the US public?

My perception of this is that Americans prefer more "roll-on" torque than other markets, meaning that in any given gear when you punch it there is an expected amount of power. In other markets where smaller engines are offered, the drivers iether do not demand the power because they have few or no interstate like roads, or the drivers accept that they must downshift to get the power they need for these situations.

The US has long since had big engined vehicles and automatic transmissions. Our fast freeways and lifestyles reflect our preference for these types of vehicles. To get the public inteterested in smaller engines that must be "worked" a little more to produce the required power requires an incentive and a change in thinking. I think small, fun to drive cars in almost every price range is the key.

After the hangover from the generally dull 4cyl cars of the '70s, the '80s "hot hatch" cars were the hot new thing. One example, the '83 VW GTI made about 100hp in a sub 2000lb car, was fun to drive, good for the day 30+ mpg, and practical. Others evolved thier platforms in all sorts of vairants and eventually led up to our current import tuner market.

So now small fun to drive cars are often considered kid or tuner cars, and don't appeal so much to as wide a market as they should.

So, what would it take to get your Mom/Dad/Uncle/Aunt into a smaller fuel efficient car? The Fit/Versa/Caliber concept seems like it might work, but they don't seem to quite hit the mark as FE is disapointing for the implied economy they should return.

So if you ran GM or Ford or Toyota or Honda, what would you do to get more of the public into smaller cars?