The vast majority of Americans responding to a survey by the Consumer Federation of America say they are worried about rising gas prices in the future and that they support higher fuel economy standards.

But those consumers are not being offered fuel-efficient cars to buy, CFA officials said at a news conference yesterday in Washington, D.C.

"We analyzed how the new 2010 models stack up in fuel economy, and only 4 percent of the models have a rating of 30 miles per gallon or above. A shocking 96 percent of new models get under 30 miles per gallon," said Jack Gillis, CFA director of public affairs and author of "The Car Book."

"This is a case of utter market failure -- consumer demand is not being met by vehicle supply," said Mark Cooper, CFA director of research. "It's a vicious cycle that is fueled by the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration, because they cannot set long-term aggressive standards. Our research shows that consumers want, and the industry needs for its own survival, higher fuel economy standards."

But consumer behavior doesn't show a significant, consistent demand for small, economical cars. Small cars have, by and large, been languishing on dealership lots since gasoline prices dropped below $3 a gallon.

In September, for instance, sales of the subcompact Toyota Yaris were off 41 percent year to date, Chevy Aveo sales were off 30.6 percent and Honda Fit sales were off 8.2 percent.

Moreover, a recent study done by AutoPacific, a marketing research and consultancy firm for the automobile industry, suggested that many of the people who had brought small cars recently were unhappy with them.

In that survey, based on more than 32,000 new car and light truck buyers, 30 percent said they wanted more power than they had in their small cars, 25 percent wanted more cargo room, 18 percent wanted more room, and 25 percent want more technology.

"Our research indicates that American car buyers are definitely willing to buy a more fuel-efficient car, but that they don't want it to be much smaller than what they are driving today," said George Peterson, president of AutoPacific, in a statement. "Tomorrow's successful small car won't be tiny. It will be reasonably sized, have increased fuel economy, adequate performance and a full load of customer features."

In addition, almost half said they were planning to buy a larger compact car, and 35 percent said they wanted to buy a mid-size sedans.

The CFA survey, conducted from Nov. 12 to 15 with a sampling of 1,000 adult Americans, showed that 78 percent of Americans support the federal government's proposal to increase fuel economy standards to 35 mpg by 2016.

In addition, CFA officials said, even with gas prices currently below $3 a gallon, 74 percent remain concerned about gas prices and 70 percent are worried about dependence on Middle Eastern oil.

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