LITTLE VEHICLES, BIG WORLD
Middle-class parents have been asking their “car guy” friends the same question for decades: What car do I buy my newly minted, freshly scrubbed, hormonally hypercharged 16-year-old that’s inexpensive, safe, fuel-efficient, too slow to get into trouble, and quick enough to get out of it? The answer was always the same: an as-new-as-possible compact or subcompact sedan. We had our preferred brands, sure, but the segment held a certain reliability of choice.
No more. Sedan sales are circling the drain while automakers trip over each other to invent new classes of crossovers and SUVs. Although that means screaming deals can be had on certain forgotten three-boxes, automakers have been putting much more emphasis into creating innovation in the crossover space. As a result, if you’re buying a cheap and cheerful first car for your kid (or yourself) these days, you’re likely buying a crossover.
This is where MotorTrend comes in: We’re here to help you decide how to spend your hard-earned $25,000 (or less) with three brand-new options—the Ford EcoSport, Hyundai Kona, and Nissan Kicks.
Well, kinda brand-new. See, the Kona is the only one that’s actually brand-new. Both the EcoSport and Kicks were designed for markets like India and South America and have been on sale there for
