A new crop of cars shows that inexpensive doesn't have to mean cheap

Priced at $10,990, the 2012 Nissan Versa is the epitome of the new value car. (Nissan)

It would have been easy to overlook amid the shiny cars, fashion models and other hoopla at April's New York auto show, but one of the most significant trends was the emergence of "value cars."

Value cars usually are small, but not always the tiniest or cheapest. They also aren't the premium small cars, such as the Mini Cooper or Volkswagen Beetle.

The new value cars are defined by being both low in price and well furnished relative to their rivals -- and also when contrasted with the cars they replace in a manufacturer's lineup.

The poster car for the new category is the 2012 Nissan Versa, unveiled in New York. It will start at $10,990 plus destination fees when it goes on sale this summer. That's about $1,000 more than the lowest-price Versa it replaces, but the new one has standard air conditioning, electric power steering and a stylish design -- all missing from its forebear.
The $13,000 2012 Hyundai Accent, also introduced at the show, is more stylish and is rated a desirable 40 mpg on the highway. It's also a pioneer among small cars for its advanced gasoline direct-injection engine technology that boosts power, cuts emissions and improves mileage. Until now, that has been limited to bigger, pricier machines.
Kia showed its Rio with standard features that include an AM/FM/CD/MP3 stereo with three months of free satellite-radio service -- a deal usually found among bigger, more expensive models. The Rio also plans to have idle-stop technology. The engine stops running at stoplights to save fuel, then restarts instantly when the driver releases the brake pedal.

Volkswagen cut $1,700 from the price of its redesigned Jetta and sales are up. (Volkswagen)

"Normal small cars have grown up," leaving room in the size and price spectra for trimmer, less-expensive models, notes David Champion, senior director of auto testing at Consumer Reports magazine. "There is a market for a small car about the size of a [Honda] Civic or [Toyota] Corolla of a few years ago, but not a bare-bones stripper that makes you feel impoverished every time you get into the car."

You could date the modern value-car movement to the 2011 Volkswagen Jetta, launched last October at a starting price of slightly less than $16,000 (plus shipping).

The redesigned Jetta was enlarged, priced some $1,700 lower than the previous model and given more standard features. The Jetta's sales the first quarter were 62 percent better than a year earlier, according to sales tracker Autodata.

To automakers, value cars mean cars that are nice enough to bring owners back for another.

Chevrolet's small 2012 Sonic -- which starts at $13,735 -- is "intended to be the entry point" into the Chevrolet brand, and to leave customers satisfied enough to stay with GM for life, says Margaret Brooks, Chevy's marketing director for small cars.

"If you're going to sell an inexpensive car, it still can't be 'cheap,' " says Don Levin, spokesman for the Dave Mungenast dealerships in the St. Louis area. Buyers are "going to want as much as they can get."

Instead of basic transportation, buyers now want "to look at it and say, 'That's a really cool car,' " says Michael Sprague, vice president of marketing for Kia. "You want to be proud of your purchase."