The niche vehicles are nipping at them.

But when you start talking niche vehicles in the 500-to-20,000-a-year range, they don't have the flexibility to respond quickly to the market.

An immediate success as niche vehicles go, its sales topped the company's Thunderbird the first year.

Wide-scale usage of ethanol fuel outside motorsports and niche motorized vehicles may never come into fruition.

Among these are the M3 and future cars like it - low-volume niche vehicles with few direct competitors.

The car-car is also fading as the industry gets better at building and selling the more specialized, low-volume models known as niche vehicles.

If hybrids just end up as a niche vehicle," Mr. Friedman said, "they really won't have an impact on the environment and global warming.

Faced with a downturn in orders for its Cabac, Smith diversified into niche vehicles.

And the Vigor, another muddle, was too small for the American midsize market, too much of a "niche" vehicle.

"We view these niche vehicles as a very important weapon for Detroit."