Coming changes in the auto market promise to save consumers thousands on new cars.

Did you know that it's already possible to buy a new car at or below $10,000? A scattering of VPs (value-priced lines) can be found across manufacturers. Honda started the VP trend years ago with late summer editions of the Accord and Civic that were bare bones and low budget.

Now the same thing is happening at the low end of the market. In Asia, people are routinely buying fully equipped cars at $5,000 -- and even $2,500 in some cases! In fact, Nissan Renault has a $2,000 car planned for Asia due out in the next two years.

Why would you care about a car being sold in Asia? Well, just look at the world of electronics, for example. Japan is the trendsetter and what gets sold over there usually makes it way over here two years later. The same is true with automotive technology.

Of course, making the necessary adjustments for our emissions and safety standards would probably tack about $4,000 or $5,000 onto a vehicle with a base price of $2,000.

In related news, Clark earned himself a reputation as an SUV hater about 10 years ago. But he wasn't strictly opposed to their low fuel economy. He was appalled by the rate of rollover death for passengers, and the incidence of highway death that other motorists faced on the receiving end of an SUV crash.

Both problems have been greatly remedied now that SUVs are built on car platforms instead of truck platforms. Now that's good news!