What the heck, why did GM wait to sell a 40mpg car in the USA if they already had em?

Question

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aEJvUUe4iUlU&refer=worldwide

General Motors Corp., which popularized the 7,800-pound Hummer, may begin selling a mini-car more than a foot shorter than anything else it markets in the U.S. to win back buyers deterred by record fuel prices.

GM may bring the production version of the Chevrolet Beat to the U.S., people familiar with the plan said. The car, which would normally be reserved for markets such as Asia and Latin America, gets as much as 40 miles a gallon, a fuel efficiency topped in the U.S. only by hybrids.

The possible American introduction of the Beat would be one step in a fleet downsizing and shift away from fossil fuel-based vehicles that the people said is already under way at Detroit- based GM. Resigned to $4-a-gallon gasoline and stricter pollution rules, the largest U.S. automaker has recognized that its response must go beyond the mothballing of large truck plants, the people said.

Answer 1

Because the American public does not want to drive anything smaller than a Sherman Tank and the auto makers can not make the profit on a small fuel efficient car that they can on large gas guzzling SUV's and trucks.  

Until this mentality changes in this country we will forever be dependent upon the Persian Gulf states like a puppet.   People in this country need to wake up and not be so glutinous and waste full.

Answer 2

GM along with other US manufacturers make what people will buy. The public has had a long love affair with larger vehicles for decades. The 40 mpg cars didn't sell as well and the manufacturers make less money on them.

The last time American auto makers tooled up to make small cars was after the 1970's oil embargo.