The system needs replacing

Two years to gear up factories for subcompacts, some experts predict gas going from $4/gal to $7 and the basic cost of living up another 20% by then. Looks like these folks are still going the wrong way on a one way street.
Only $50 mil to kick off a global competition for the best design

http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/080702/auto_sales.html

APJune car sales plummet; more declines expectedWednesday July 2, 12:17 am ET
George Pipas, Ford's top sales analyst
"Our view is that gas prices aren't likely to go down"

Both GM and Ford have announced plans for new subcompacts, but it will take at least two years to gear up factories for the new products.