Editorial: Why must cars continue to get larger and larger?

There is a cycle in the automotive industry of enlarging cars with each and every redesign. The latest casualty is the Honda Accord, once known as a more sensible choice in the face of ever-larger sedans from the American automakers. Back in the early eighties, American companies were still building large rear-wheel drive cars while companies like Volkswagen, Honda and Toyota were just beginning to roll out their smaller front-wheel drive designs. As it became apparent that consumers in America were increasingly choosing the smaller imports instead of the Detroit land barges, the big three started to change their designs, mimicking the designs from Japan. Today, things are starting to reverse, with cars like the Chrysler triplets, the 300, Charger and Magnum, as well as the new rear wheel drive GM's like the upcoming Pontiac G8 and Impala. Japan has noticed this trend as well, and their cars are becoming larger in an effort to be size-competitive. The aforementioned Accord has grown to the point that it is classified as a large car. So is the Crown Victoria.

We are not suggesting that the masses in general purchase microcars, but we are suggesting that the ever-increasing sizes are not entirely necessary. Keep the Accord an Accord, please. Wanna bet that the next Camry will try and one-up the Accord in size? The Civic of today is larger than the Accord from the '80s, and that's just wrong. Now, the Fit has taken up the place in Honda's line as the small car of choice, proving that the market for a vehicle that size is still alive and well - and that the automakers are capable of building a good, small car. Comments, questions and snide-remarks are welcome in the comments, as always.