10 Cheap Cars...

Chevy Spark - 11K US 66hp

Honda Brio 12K US 100hp

Kia Picanto 1.0 EX 11.5K US 69hp 3 cylinders

Mitsubishi Mirage GLX 10.6K US 77hp 3 cylinders

Toyota Wigo 1.0E 9.4K US 3cyl. 5 sp 3 cylinders

Hyundai Eon GL 8.7K US 54hp 3 cylinders

Suzuki Alto 800 7.9K US 3cyl. 90mph 3 cylinders

Chery QQ3 10K US 96mph 85hp

Lipan 520 1.3 DX 9.9K US

Geely LC GB 9K US
Chevy Spark made it to the cheapest car list and for sale here in the US. Take note that well established automakers in the list (Honda, Kia, Mitsubishi, Toyota, Hyundai and Suzuki) are very well capable of making a ELIO like 3wheeler that could pass US standards for safety and with EM already paving the way ( they could may well be just waiting if EM could pull it off), we could have more choices in the 3 wheeler market in the future. With that said, I say go ELIO, Go!!! (Also take note that 5 out of 10 cars on the lists sports a 3 cylinder engines).

How many are actually sold here in the USA?

ClubJoe
Sunny Brandon, FL

On the Chevy site, the starting price for the Chevy Spark is $13,875 for a no-frills manual which is almost $3,000 MORE than in the OP list above. (the automatic is $1,100 more) I wonder where they got their numbers?

Just the Chevy Spark. It's interesting that the rest of the car listed is made in China, Indonesia, Korea, etc. where labor should be cheap and they can't even comes close to the our ELIO's base price which includes standard comfort (AC & HEAT), entertainment (AM/FM RADIO) and safety features (AIR BAGS/ANTI-LOCK BRAKES?). Half a car so half the cost hence the low price so ok EM, show them it can be done! Go ELIO, Go!!!

Ty said:

On the Chevy site, the starting price for the Chevy Spark is $13,875 for a no-frills manual which is almost $3,000 MORE than in the OP list above. (the automatic is $1,100 more) I wonder where they got their numbers?

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Saw it in Facebook yesterday. www.gobear.com. Scroll down and click Blog and search/ type in 10 cheap cars... Article was dated Jan. 5, 2017. I did converted their price to US. Wow, didn't even know that little Chevy Spark can cost that much! It's made here right?
On another note, I wouldn't go as far as saying that they're beautiful but I'm sure they're functional, and for me who just wants a cheap transportation, I can make it "FUN". Only problem is they're only meant for overseas distribution so it's unlikely it'll hit our shores any time soon. My point is they have the means to create a basic ELIO look-alike but can they offer it for 7K?? Very interesting future scenario I'd say.

The only two available here in the US are the Chevy Spark and Mitsubishi Mirage. Looks like the Mirage is base priced at $12,995 and with no options ends up at $13,830 with destination and handling fees.

If that Suzuki Alto 800 was available here for $7,900, you would think they would sell like crazy. Sure they would be a dog on the highway getting up to speed, but if they can actually run at 80 MPH and being that cheap? Seats 4 at almost half the price of the Spark and Mirage... Curb weight is 1532 lbs, so in Elio range.

Maurtis said:

The only two available here in the US are the Chevy Spark and Mitsubishi Mirage. Looks like the Mirage is base priced at $12,995 and with no options ends up at $13,830 with destination and handling fees.

If that Suzuki Alto 800 was available here for $7,900, you would think they would sell like crazy. Sure they would be a dog on the highway getting up to speed, but if they can actually run at 80 MPH and being that cheap? Seats 4 at almost half the price of the Spark and Mirage... Curb weight is 1532 lbs, so in Elio range.

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I started out my driving life with a cheap car, it was a 1951 Henry J. A very poor excuse for a car. It had a flat head 4, Got poor gas mileage, could hardly make it up a hill. The one good thing about it was it broke down so often I got a good education on car repair. My dad and I had to change a head gasket out in the country with the tools at hand. Yes, with that car you carried extra parts and tools if you went on any trip over 100 miles. The one thing I do remember is that it cost $40 used in 1958. I'm certain the low end cars tody are much better than my Henry J.

Maurtis said:

The only two available here in the US are the Chevy Spark and Mitsubishi Mirage. Looks like the Mirage is base priced at $12,995 and with no options ends up at $13,830 with destination and handling fees.

If that Suzuki Alto 800 was available here for $7,900, you would think they would sell like crazy. Sure they would be a dog on the highway getting up to speed, but if they can actually run at 80 MPH and being that cheap? Seats 4 at almost half the price of the Spark and Mirage... Curb weight is 1532 lbs, so in Elio range.

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Don't I know it! It's easy for one to say, "they're "cheap" so it's unsafe"...it even rhymes right?? So at 7K base, how safe is our future american made ELIO?? Just last week, my wife was offered to buy this 2002 Mercedes Benz 2dr SLK320 with only 64K original miles on it for only 5K. Without hesitation told my wife "buy it". We never owned any car in that class ever, V6 and what..216 horses, I just can't contain myself but then as we sat down to decide, the big question popped up, "can we afford to service this baby?". So I went and google it's most common problems and voila, this car, from Mercedes Benz no less is a lemon!! In particular, owners (or previous owners who sold it in disgust) keep replacing their batteries every few months because the car seats drains the battery! They have to set their seats and unplugged the connections modules just to make sure it starts again after use. at least one caught on fire just after replacing a 02 sensor! Sad part was it was brought to MB USA and nothing was done about it, not even a recall was issued. So, IMHO only, I say again IMHO, "you get what you paid for"
does not always rings true.

MagicDragon said:

I started out my driving life with a cheap car, it was a 1951 Henry J. A very poor excuse for a car. It had a flat head 4, Got poor gas mileage, could hardly make it up a hill. The one good thing about it was it broke down so often I got a good education on car repair. My dad and I had to change a head gasket out in the country with the tools at hand. Yes, with that car you carried extra parts and tools if you went on any trip over 100 moles. The one thing I do remember is that it cost $40 used in 1958. I'm certain the low end cars tody are much better than my Henry J.

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Wow! Engine bay on that car must have been roomy with basic components so it's easy to work on. I got all scratches on my knuckles just last week to access and replace a coolant temperature solenoid on my daughter's very cramped 2002 Volkswagen Beetle!

Chery QQ: 4-door hatchback. China. $4,781

http://www.autoblog.com/2008/03/03/the-ten-cheapest-cars-in-the-world-2-chery-qq/