Its a bit more complicated than just "**** children". The Yaris sedan, in terms of exterior dimensions, is still larger than my 8th gen Corolla. I agree with you 112263 that cars have grown way beyond what they first were intended and I don't like that. You may remember a topic I started several months ago called "Bigger is better...why?".The reason why its more complicated that sheer size is because the movement towards bigger has more to do with the auto industry as a whole, not just Toyota. Take a broad look at the Toyota lineup from the 1980s. You basically had the Tercel (sub-compact), the Corolla (compact), and the Camry (mid-sized) which carried the bulk of the market for Toyota. All 3 of these cars were marketed towards 1 thing, economy. All 3 were basically the same boxy, unstylish car in slightly different sizes. People didn't buy a Camry in the 1980s to be powerful or sporty; they bought it because they were sick of gas-guzzling Ford Thunderbirds and Buick Electras, but wanted something not as cramped as a Tercel. That is why the Camry used to only come in a 4 cylinder platform.
As time went on, Americans began to care less about fuel economy and more about size and power (the reason for the SUV explosion of the late 90s). You compare the definition of compact today to what is was 20 years ago and its not the same. That is why Toyota began building the cars larger, and offering them in more powerful formats that are actually less fuel efficient than before. When the 2003 Corolla came out, which is bigger than ever, it got less MPG than the 2002.
2002 Corolla = 32/41 MPG or 30/39 (automatic)
2003 Corolla = 32/40 MPG or 29/38 (automatic)
Only now after 5 years has the 9th gen Corolla caught up in fuel efficiency to the 2002 model. Also, look at the new 2007 Camry. One of my professors drives a Camry XLE. The thing is absolutely beautiful looking with a bright red exterior, chrome trim, V6, sunroof, and all the things to go with it. That is nothing like the Camry 20 years ago. The Camry has evolved based on how the market (particularly the American market) has deemed it to. The 1st gen Camry was never offered in a V6 format. Compare a 1987 4 cyl Camry to either new Camry and its more fuel efficient.
1987 Camry = 27/34 MPG
2007 Camry = 24/34 MPG
2007 Camry V6 = 22/31 MPG
All my figures are not false. All were taken from http://www.fueleconomy.gov
Why must you guys (all post like this, not just this one) insist that any one person knows why people buy a Toyota? This is one persons view, a opinion, and not fact.
People have many reasons for buying a Toyota over a American car and it isn't always just fuel economy. We got a Toyota mainly because of how the car holds value. I didn't want to loose 5 grand from driving the car off the lot. Post like this are getting old, and some of the corolla/toyota owners could get off of a high horse. It's just a freaken car.
The 87' auto got 25city31hwy with a 2.0
A 07' auto is rated at 24city and 33hwy with the 2.4
07 manual is rated at 24city and 34hwy with the 2.4
A larger car and larger engine with almost the same fuel economy is much more efferent. Also, if Toyota kept making cars like they used to, they would go under. It's not just American's wanting all the extra's in cars. Automakers are in a very huge rush to be the first to add something nice and new to a car. If Toyota wasn't proactive about it, they would fade away quickly.