The Detroit Three auto makers are in financial trouble for a wide array of reasons, but not because they don't make fuel efficient cars. They do. Consumers just don't want to pay that much for them.

Consider the Ford Focus, recently redesigned and outfitted with nifty technology that allows you to control your phone or your iPod by talking to the dashboard. It's the best-selling compact car from a Detroit brand.

The typical Focus currently sells for about $15,500, according to transaction data from the Power Information Network. That's well below Ford's average revenue per vehicle in North America – just $23,376 in the just-ended third quarter. It's also $3,371 per vehicle less than the average selling price of the Honda Civic, the benchmark in this class in the U.S. market. (See a chart.)

General Motors Corp. has a similar problem. Its best selling compact car, the Chevy Cobalt, sells for $4,192 less than a Civic, based on average selling prices collected by Power Information Network over the past ten months.

Chrysler LLC's main compact model, the Dodge Caliber, does somewhat better. During the past ten months, the chunky Caliber hatchback has sold for an average $1,717 per vehicle less than the average Civic. That looks good compared to Ford and Chevy until you look at sales volumes. Caliber sales through the end of October are less than half the sales of the Focus. The Focus, in turn, attracted only 175,958 buyers between Jan. 1 and Halloween, compared to 304,297 buyers for Civics in the same period, according to sales figures compiled by Autodata.