Small car blitz at LA Show: Too little too late?

The Chevy Cruze

Tomorrow I'll be attending press days at the LA Auto Show, and the big theme at this year's show is once again 'green'. This year, however, things are a bit different than past years. Instead of hybrid cars or clean diesel vehicles, the path to green is small cars, particularly a number of new offerings from the Big 3.

While this is great news, I cannot help but wonder, is this too little, too late?

Toyota and Honda have always done a pretty good job selling small cars in the US, and they will probably continue to do well. However, both automakers have hinted that smaller, cheaper hybrids will be critical to their future small car plans.

For now certainly the Chevy Cruze, for instance, will sell. Still, a semi-loaded automatic version of the Cruze will probably list for $18,000 - $20,000. But, what happens if Toyota can sell a slightly smaller Prius for around the same price, or if Honda can sell an even cheaper Honda Fit hybrid?

Without question, the Big 3 should proceed with their small car plans. Nonetheless, are the Big 3 avoiding small hybrids today much the same way they avoided small cars in general for the last few decades? Ultimately, aren't the Big 3 simply chasing the small car US segment when they instead should be showing some real leadership and vision in this segment?