摘要
如果美国要减少对石油进口的依赖，就必须推广小型轿车、柴油车和混合动力汽车。但设计这些种类的轿车与传统的大型车的大排量和高油耗的形象不符。
许多驾驶员就是无法将美国公司与紧凑型轿车联系起来，这可不是什么好事。不过尽管SUV市场正在萎缩，小型车市场却以每年5％的速度增长着，到2008年将占美国所有售出车辆的三分之一。
The US needs to start driving smaller cars, diesels and hybrids if it is going to reduce its reliance on imported oil. But designing such vehicles goes against a tradition of big vehicles with high displacements and tuel consumption figures to match.
A lot of drivers just don＇t associate US firms with compact cars. That＇s not good. While the SUV segment is declining, the small vehicle market is growing by 5 per cent a year and in 2008 will account for around a third of all cars sold in the US.
