General Motors (GM), long known for its gargantuan SUVs and fuel-guzzling trucks, is all set to introduce the smallest car in its international portfolio to the US market, and in the process, deliver the most efficient conventional engined car in the country.

GM spokesman Dee Allen said bringing the Chevrolet Beat, which is about the size of a Honda Fit or Toyota Yaris mini car, to the US is among the options the company is studying.

"It is certainly one of the things that is being looked at from a portfolio perspective," Allen said. The car delivers an amazing fuel efficiency of 40 mile per gallon of gasoline, figures only hybrid cars can beat in the US.

The Beat, to be built in South Korea, will be rolled out in other global markets faster than it would be in the US, Allen said. He did not know when the car might be sold elsewhere or in the US. The car still must be engineered locally to meet American safety and emissions standards, he said.

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 slowdown in sales due to $4-a-gallon gasoline and stricter pollution rules, the largest automaker in the world finally seems to have recognised that it must respond by going beyond mothballing of large truck plants. (See: General Motors decides to go slow on trucks, SUVs; to concentrate on cars)

Besides the Beat, GM is weighing a list of options for refocusing its auto lineup on fuel efficiency rather than performance. They include the US introduction of a small pickup based on the Chevrolet Montana and quite popular in Latin America, and an expansion of the number of versions of the Volt plug-in electric car, sources said.

GM is also reportedly trying to increase production and speed up availability of the successor to the Chevy Cobalt sedan and develop a fuel-efficient alternative to the Cadillac Escalade sport-utility vehicle.

GM unveiled the Beat with two other ultra-small cars as concepts at auto shows last year, saying the trio was designed to attract young buyers in urban markets around the globe. Interestingly, the Beat was built in India while he two others, Trax and Groove, were fabricated in Michigan, US.

The Beat was completely designed by GM Daewoo in South Korea. These three concepts were cast to a vote after their introduction on the website ww.vote4chevrolet.com, with the winner the only version considered likely at the time to be made available in the US. The Beat received more than half of the votes.

The Beat is a front-wheel-drive three-door hatchback powered by a 1.2-liter turbocharged gasoline engine. The company has declined to put a price tag on the Beat, but Vice Chairman Bob Lutz said last year that GM mini cars ideally would start about $10,000 in the US market.

At about 138 inches (3505 millimeters) long, the Beat would be among the smallest cars sold in the US. Only the 106-inch Smart car built by German carmaker Daimler is shorter. (See: America's smallest car smart fortwo earns top marks in crash tests)

Sales of the smallest cars in the US have risen 31 per cent in the first half this year as the industry total fell 10 per cent and the largest SUVs 31 per cent. GM reported a 21 per cent plunge in US sales of pickups, SUVs and vans for the first six months.

In November, GM said it approved a model based on the Beat prototype for markets outside the US and Canada starting next year. GM wouldn't disclose where the new vehicle would be built.

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