Newsflash: Japanese people drive small cars

Guess what? Small cars are becoming popular in Japan!  What’s that? You thought they already were?  Well, yeah…but here’s an news article that says they are becoming more popular:

TOKYO (Reuters) – Japanese drivers shifted to tiny, fuel-efficient minicars in record numbers in June and the year to date, data showed on Monday, a trend that is a boon for the top two minivehicle brands but a profit downer for the rest.

After hitting a record-high 1.92 million units in 2005, sales of minivehicles — cars with engines of up to 660cc that make up a segment unique to Japan — had been widely expected to stay flat this year as new products in the rival one-liter compact class reached showrooms.

But with gasoline prices soaring to record levels and auto makers piling more features onto minicars, demand has shot up beyond expectations, cannibalizing sales mainly of the once-popular compact segment.

The article fails to address the one big question on the minds of consumers:  Will all the new minivehicles be silver-colored like the rest of the cars in Japan?