Actually hellyeah, Volkswagon did have a small diesel truck that got somewhere around 50 mpg. Also, my brother-in-law has a Subaru Brat from the late 80's that gets like 42 mpg. It can be done! 50 mpg is not some pipe dream! In fact it HAS BEEN DONE TWENTY FUCKING YEARS AGO!!!!!!

Now, of course there is still going to be a market for SUV's and trucks and not EVERYONE is going to drive a small car but given $4/gallon gas there are a lot of us who would.

Which brings me back to my original question. I'm just some guy living my life who listens to the news. I don't work in the auto industry. If I know this shit you can bet you ass that the car manufacturers know it. The first car manufacturer who markets a reasonably priced car that gets 50 mpg would make a shitload of money.

And yet NONE of them have done so. Why not?