Despite the wave of all-new compact and subcompact fighters hitting the market right now, sales of small cars in the U.S. don't appear to be budging much. According to Cars.com, models like the much-hyped Ford Fiesta are struggling to do much better than their older, stale counterparts at other automakers. So far, the Fiesta is number four in sales in the subcompact segment, falling well behind the Nissan Versa with 6,724 sales in November, the Honda Fit with 4,180 units and the Hyundai Accent at 4,052. In fact, Ford only managed to move 3,473 Fiesta units – just a hair above the 3,262 soon-to-be-replaced Chevrolet Aveo vehicles that rolled off of dealer lots last month.

Fortunately, the news is a little better for larger vehicles like the Chevrolet Cruze. General Motors managed to sell 8,066 of its small sedans in the vehicle's first full month on the market, and a total of 8,955 new-for-2011 Volkswagen Jetta models found homes during the second to last month of the year as well. Even the aged Ford Focus saw its sales jump by 27 percent to 13,030 in November thanks in no small part to an aggressive incentive program.

Head over to Cars.com for a full breakdown of America's disappointing subcompact sales, then chime in with your thoughts on the matter in Comments.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is on a roll of remarkably nonsensical declarations of late, not least of which are the "mpg" ratings for the 2011 Nissan LEAF and 2011 Chevrolet Volt. The latest, and possibly silliest, pronouncement: the 5,771-pound, 453-horsepower V-12 Rolls-Royce Phantom Coupe is a compact car.

How, in the name of all things measurable, did the EPA come to that conclusion? The EPA classes cars not on weight, length, or some other exterior factor, but on interior volume. Even more laughable? The Bentley Continental GTC, at 5,663 pounds and 552 horsepower, is classed as a sub-compact. The Aston Martin DB9 and DBS? Mini-compact cars in the same class as the MINI Cooper.

By way of comparison, the Toyota Prius; Nissan Altima, Sentra, and Versa; Hyundai Elantra; Chevrolet Malibu; Ford Fusion; Kia Optima; and Audi A6 are all classed as "midsize" cars.

But what's the point of the EPA's classification structure anyway? To regulate fuel economy, dividing passenger vehicles into sub-categories. The rub? While cars are rated on internal passenger and cargo volume, pickups, SUVs, and minivans are rated on Gross Vehicle Weight Rating (GVWR). The result: many heavy pickups and SUVs aren't held to fuel economy standards at all.