Subcompact sales boom

Over the past year, as U.S. gas prices rose to record highs, sales of fuel-efficient small cars did not benefit as much as industry experts had anticipated, increasing 0.4 percent to 2.24 million in the first 11 months of the year. But a breakdown of the small car market reveals that subcompacts, the smallest models on the market, such as the Chevrolet Aveo and Kia Spectra, surged partly at the expense of compact cars.