[Athos]

The conventional wisdom about what cars will and won't sell will begin to falter as gas prices go up. When people are paying $3.00 a gallon (it's around $2.80 per gallon in San Francisco now) a smaller, less powerful car, with a compact design for luggage and passengers becomes more appealing. My guess is that we'll cross this threshold sooner rather than later. I just got back from driving my 330i I in Germany. After spending about $90 on a fill-up a couple of times, I know I would not buy the same car in that environment. I think car companies would be wise to begin introducing some smaller, more fuel-efficient cars to establish these offerings early. I think BMW would be smart to offer 323 for a tad under $25K. If they could bring in the 1-series for a base around $20K, that would also be a good move.