Higher gasoline prices are spurring carmakers to develop and introduce smaller cars, some of which have been available in Europe for years. Brazil will be entering the U.S. market with 50,000 of its “Obvio!” three-seater. Small, stylish, and with reasonable performance, this car has promise at a reasonable targeted price of $14,000, but the predicted mileage is only 40 mpg highway, and less than 30 mpg in city driving. But you can get that kind of economy with larger cars, like the Toyota Corolla and the Honda Fit. I don’t understand why someone would opt for this pocket-sized car instead, and more importantly, I don’t see why mileage on such a small car doesn’t outpace that of its larger siblings. The Obvio! website also mentions a very capable all-electric version with a range of over 200 miles on a charge and an estimated sticker price of $49,000. If they could get that down to $30,000 or so I think that would be an attractive vehicle for a lot of people. Depending on the number of batteries they’ve got stuffed in there, they should be able to do a version with a more modest range for commuters at a much lower cost.