THE ISSUE
Consumers are benefitting from improvements in quality and reliability of vehicles across all brands and sizes.

With gas prices possibly headed above $4 a gallon, motorists are being drawn to smaller and more fuel-efficient vehicles.

But unlike years past, consumers have more good choices when it comes to finding a reliable small car.

The Honda Civic and Toyota Corolla were once the undisputed quality leaders when it came to small cars, but now those models have strong competition from other carmakers, including those from the United States and South Korea.
Global competition during the past five years has forced automakers to improve quality and reliability across all sizes and makes of vehicles, according to an Associated Press report.

Sales of small cars jumped 21 percent in January compared to the same month in 2011, according to motorintelligence.com. The Chevrolet Cruze, Ford Focus and Hyundai Elantra joined the Civic and Corolla as top sellers.

Automakers also are throwing more energy into making their larger vehicles get better fuel mileage. Sales of full-size pickups as a category were up almost 10 percent and the top-selling vehicle across all categories was the full-size Ford F-series.

Experts in the automobile industry say buyers are far less likely to be stuck with a lemon because of the advancement in quality and reliability. In fact, the cars are so close on reliability it is getting more difficult for companies to charge a premium for their models.

“It’s a great time to be a consumer,” said Jess Toprak, vice president of industry trends for TrueCar.com. “You can’t really screw up too badly in terms of your vehicle choice.”

Americans are prone to complain about foreign companies and the loss of manufacturing jobs, but no one can deny that fierce competition in the automobile industry has been good for car buyers. Many of the models with foreign car badges are actually manufactured in the U.S.

That includes the Corolla, built in nearby Blue Springs, Miss., and the Elantra, assembled in Montgomery.

The price of fuel may continue to be a growing factor in automobile selection. At the current gasoline price of about $3.54 a gallon, a vehicle that averages 15 miles per gallon consumes about $3,540 in fuel per year, based on 15,000 miles in annual driving. A car that gets 30 miles per gallon consumes only $1,770 in fuel per year.

With growing incentive to switch to smaller vehicles, it’s good to know domestic and foreign automakers are providing better models.