Econobox is a

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territo ...

informal

slang Slang is vocabulary (words, phrases, and linguistic usages) of an informal register, common in spoken conversation but avoided in formal writing. It also sometimes refers to the language generally exclusive to the members of particular in-g ...

term for a small, boxy, fuel-efficient

economy car Economy car is a term mostly used in the United States for cars designed for low-cost purchase and operation. Typical economy cars are small (compact or subcompact), lightweight, and inexpensive to both produce and purchase. Stringent design cons ...

with few luxuries and a low price.

History

1973-1978 Honda Civic 5-door hatchback 01

Econoboxes first came to prominence in the United States due to the 1973 oil crisis. Japanese automakers were leaders at producing smaller, fuel-efficient cars, as well as enjoying generally higher reliability and build quality than their US counterparts, so their offerings such as the

Honda Civic The is a series of automobiles manufactured by Honda since 1972. Since 2000, the Civic has been categorized as a compact car, while previously it occupied the subcompact class. , the Civic is positioned between the Honda Fit/City and Honda A ...

generally outperformed their American competitors such as the Chevrolet Vega and

Ford Pinto The Ford Pinto is a subcompact car that was manufactured and marketed by Ford Motor Company in North America from 1971 until 1980 model years. The Pinto was the first subcompact vehicle produced by Ford in North America. The Pinto was marketed ...

. The best-known American econoboxes were the 1970s/80s

Chevrolet Chevette The Chevrolet Chevette is a front-engine, rear-drive subcompact manufactured and marketed by Chevrolet for model years 1976–1987 as a three-door or five-door hatchback. Introduced in September 1975, the Chevette superseded the Vega as Chev ...

, Ford Escort and the

Dodge Omni The Dodge Omni (and the nearly identical Plymouth Horizon) is a subcompact car that was produced by Chrysler Corporation from the 1978 to 1990 model years. The first Chrysler model line produced with front-wheel drive, the Omni and Horizon were a ...

Plymouth Horizon The horizon is the apparent line that separates the surface of a celestial body from its sky when viewed from the perspective of an observer on or near the surface of the relevant body. This line divides all viewing directions based on whether i ...

. Japanese econoboxes include the

(in particular the first and second generations) and the

Datsun B-210 The is an automobile built by the Japanese automaker Nissan from 1966 to 2006. In the early 1980s, the brand changed from Datsun to Nissan in line with other models by the company. Although production of the Sunny in Japan ended in 2006, the na ...

. Other cars such as the

Chevrolet Sprint The Suzuki Cultus is a supermini car produced by the Japanese manufacturer Suzuki from 1983 to 2016. The nameplate is currently used as a rebadged second-generation Suzuki Celerio in Pakistan since 2017. It was first presented at the 25th Tok ...

Geo Metro The Geo Metro is a marketing and manufacturing variation of the Suzuki Cultus available in North America from 1989 through 2001 as a joint effort of General Motors (GM) and Suzuki. In the US, the Metro carried a Geo nameplate from 1989 through ...

Yugo The Yugo (), also marketed as the Zastava Koral (, sr-Cyrl, Застава Корал) and Yugo Koral, is a subcompact car, subcompact hatchback formerly manufactured by Zastava Automobiles, at the time a Yugoslavia, Yugoslav corporation. ...

and

Chevrolet Aveo The Chevrolet Aveo ( ) is a subcompact car (B-segment) marketed by General Motors since 2002. Originally marketed as the Daewoo Kalos, takeover of Daewoo Motors by General Motors (GM) also saw the car being marketed under seven brands (Chevrolet, ...

as well as the

Ford Festiva The Ford Festiva is a subcompact car that was designed and manufactured by Mazda for Ford between 1986 and 2002. Festiva was sold in Japan, the Americas, and Australia. The name "Festiva" is derived from the Spanish word for " festive". It was n ...

and

Ford Aspire The Ford Aspire nameplate has been used by the American automobile manufacturer Ford for the following cars, in the following markets: * Ford Festiva The Ford Festiva is a subcompact car that was designed and manufactured by Mazda for Ford betw ...

were considered econoboxes. Amongst the econoboxes were sold by American brands, many were manufactured in foreign countries. American car manufacturers in North America have typically had a hard time making money off of econoboxes, and they consider them "loss leaders" that only existed to meet CAFE fuel economy standards. So, over the course of time, American car companies shifted from manufacturing econoboxes themselves, and partnered with a foreign manufacturer to build them. An example of this is the American Ford Escort: the Escort replaced the Pinto in 1981, and was manufactured by Ford until 1990. The Escort built from 1991 to 1996 however was built using a Mazda "B" series. Chevrolet did the same using its "GEO" line, to sell cars built by Suzuki and Toyota. Chrysler did as well, using cars built by Mitsubishi.

Today

The term "econobox" is not often used for describing new cars, partly due to the boxy styling of economy cars declining at the end of the 1980s. Many long-running nameplates that obtained their start as econoboxes have since moved upscale. For example, the Austin Mini and VW Beetle have been revived as enthusiasts luxury cars, rather than cheap transportation for the masses. Meanwhile, the

Toyota Corolla The is a series of compact cars (formerly subcompact) manufactured and marketed globally by the Toyota Motor Corporation. Introduced in 1966, the Corolla was the best-selling car worldwide by 1974 and has been one of the best-selling cars in ...

Mazda 3 , commonly referred to as simply Mazda, is a Japanese multinational automotive manufacturer headquartered in Fuchū, Hiroshima, Japan. In 2015, Mazda produced 1.5 million vehicles for global sales, the majority of which (nearly one m ...

and the

started as subcompact econoboxes but are now on the high-end of the compact size line.

References

{{reflist, 30em Automotive industry in the United States Slang Automotive terminology