AutoMK.com

Our friends at automk Spanish bring news of Daihatsu's new Trevis city car. With retro styling that apes the general look of the original Mini (with two extra doors, of course), the little Trevis is easy on they eyes. Where it really shines, however, is at the pump. City cars are fuel misers and the Daihatsu is no exception. Its 58-horse 1.0L DOHC 3-cylinder is good for 4.8L/100km (49mpg) in the European city/hwy combined cycle when equipped with the 5-speed manual. If equipped with the optional 4-speed automatic, it drops to 5.9L/100km (39 mpg).

The run to 100km/h (62 mph) takes 12.2 seconds. Not bad when you consider the power, and certainly not a real issue in dedicated urban driving, where you're stopping and going all the time anyway. The interior has a refreshingly clean layout that carries the modern/retro styling inside. The driver is met with an attractive instrument cluster and an available MOMO leather-wrapped steering wheel.

The price for all this goodness The base-model Trevis Junior starts at 9,990 euro;. Choosing the regular Trevis -- which includes the aforementioned MOMO steering wheel plus additional features such as 14" rims -- ups the asking price to 10,990 euro;. The optional automatic tranny sets buyers back an additional 970 euro;.

We'll see how Americans embrace a true city car when the SMART finally makes its debut in the States. If there's an audience, there are a lot of other interesting, inexpensive, and efficient vehicles in the class that could conceivably come over and give it some competition. The Trevis is one of them.

(More photos after the jump)

[Source: Daihatsu Germany via automk Spanish]