Want better mileage? It's going to cost you

0 Comments | USA TODAY, September, 2008 | by James R. Healey

Mileage-minded Americans will have plenty of small cars from which to choose the next few years, but they'll have "sticker shock" prices.

Automakers are raising prices to regain profits lost when sales of lucrative trucks and SUVs collapsed this year. They'll camouflage some of the boosts with fancy, high-margin features such as navigation and leather seats. The idea: lure well-heeled, move-down buyers who want better mileage but won't give up features.

"Prices are not as important to a whole lot of buyers who don't want to give up the comfort and convenience" of larger, premium models when they switch to smaller vehicles, says Jeff Swedlund, senior product planner at American Honda.

"We'll see average transaction prices creep up to the mid-$20,000s...