Last summer, when gas cost $4 a gallon, buyers snapped up small cars so fast that dealers couldn't keep them in stock. Now, with gas prices half that level, almost 500,000 fuel-thrifty models are piled up unsold around the country.
"I don't think Americans really like small cars," said Beau Boeckmann, whose family's Galpin Ford in southern California is the country's largest Ford dealer. "They drive them when they think they have to, when gas prices are high. But we're big people and we like big cars."
AutoWay Honda in Clearwater, Fla., last summer could hardly keep fuel-efficient models like the Civic sedan and Fit on the lot. "When one would come in, it'd be out the door the same day practically," said Brian Speas, the dealership's general manager.
Now, Mr. Speas is struggling to get customers to give them a look. He has a whole row of Civic hybrids that draw little interest, and a half-dozen Fits that have been sitting unsold for more than three months.
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