Downsize (automobile)

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In the context of the automobile industry, downsizing is a practice used to transition vehicles from one size segment to another. Commenced during the Malaise era, downsizing is done in response to consumer and government demands influencing vehicle design. As vehicle product lines completed their model cycles, automobile manufacturers developed the next generation of a vehicle with a smaller exterior footprint to allow for weight reduction and increased fuel economy, using a shortened wheelbase and body length.

In the American automobile industry, downsizing was a direct response to the 1973 oil crisis, which resulted in the enaction of CAFE fuel economy standards in 1975. By 1980, each auto manufacturer producing cars and light trucks for sale in the United States were required to produce an average of 20 mpg across their entire product line. In response, as full-size car lines completed their model cycles, General Motors, Ford Motor Company, and Chrysler Corporation sought to introduce full-size product lines with increased fuel efficiency while preserving interior dimensions as closely as possible. In 1977, General Motors became the first American manufacturer to introduce downsized versions of its full-size product line.^[1]

By the early 1980s, the downsizing practice had expanded to nearly all size segments as product lines completed model cycles within each company. Outside of the full-size segment, American manufacturers began to align more closely with European and Japanese manufacturers in size segments, leading to the abandonment of the North American-specific "intermediate" size segment. As a quicker and lower-cost alternative to complete model redesigns, a second strategy transitioned nameplates of larger vehicles to smaller ones as part of model updates.

The term engine downsizing is used when a manufacturer introduces a smaller-displacement engine (though not necessarily lower-output) for a product line in the interest of higher fuel economy.