Lumbergh, 1 answer to your qustion is "fuel economy average" set for the manfrs by the govmt. Even a 10 percent decrease in the average number could a manufacture in a place that they don't want to be in. This is why the still put 4 cyl/5 spd in the econoboxes. It is also the method to sell trucks ( see fleet comment above)with V6/std trany. 5 econo bax cars allow for the sale of 1 excursion/sub/sequoia/and the low mpg cars. Plus that is but part of the reasoning. Jon
