Small cars are key to GM recovery

General Motors Co.'s recovery plan rests in no small part on the automaker's ability to produce fuel-efficient small cars that will sell profitably and in high numbers to Americans who have little reason to take GM's small cars seriously.

An examination of GM's current model line suggests it's tantalizingly close to achieving that, but remnants of the bad old days defined by the Chevrolet Vega and Chevette linger.

The best of GM's compact and subcompact cars such as the Opel Astra and the Corsa are well engineered and highly fuel efficient. Their appeal is frequently undermined by designs, features and materials that simply don't match class leaders like the Honda Civic, Mazda 3 and Nissan Versa.

If GM can put all the pieces together, it could give those cars a run for their money. To do that, it must combine its newly competitive U.S. cost base with the sophistication Americans have come to expect from small cars.

Failure means a return to the devastating cycle where GM makes little or no money on some of its best-selling cars.