The wet dog analogy makes no sense.
Elio forecasts that it must inevitably sell at 5000 units a month for it to be a profitable operation, at least that is claimed in one media article. That seems crazy optimistic, crazy in that selling that many seems unsustainable year after year, even if they have sold over 60,000 thus far, selling that many every year would require every possible potential customer to be aware of the vehicle as an option and it is so unconventional not everyone in the market even if they have heard of it will buy one. They claim they are after the used car market that is priced at around $8,000.00 and that used car fleet has an average MPG of 17, the Elio is targeting around 60mpg in the combined city highway loop. The cost recovery claim is in the Elio as will be cheaper to operate, the savings in fuel would be its biggest selling incentive also that all its parts are off the shelve and already available.
If the Elio ever gets such exposure to garner 60,000 unit sales per year it will also get allot of consideration for safety, it cannot do very well in a crash test.
Just to get a perspective 60,000 units a year would make it highly visible, you would see them on the road everywhere and often. They want it to be a top selling vehicle, I believe many people will shy away because in a crash it would not do very well.