Smaller is better. Gas prices are on the rise and car companies are answering by making cars more compact and effectively more fuel-efficient, with some cars averaging just under 50-miles-per-gallon.

Smaller is better.

Gas prices are on the rise and car companies are answering by making cars more compact and effectively more fuel-efficient, with some cars averaging just under 50-miles-per-gallon.

Richard Prenot, Friendly Honda House, Poughkeepsie, NY, said cars such as their Honda Civic Hybrid are attracting attention with its 46-mile-per-gallon economy.

"With the cost of gas, people are looking for quality, longevity and economy these days," Prenot said.

Europeans were ahead of the trend.

The smallest commercially successful cars in Europe are the Fiat Seicento, Volkswagen Lupo and Seat Arosa.

On a whole, cars in Europe are nearly one-third smaller than those that exist in Western parts of the world, including the United States. However, there is an argument to be made about whether these cars are being used simply because of their efficiency, or if it has something to do with their economic value as well.

According to Matthew Gonser, Natural Resources major, Cornell University, the type of car Americans drive is a reflection on the society.

"Europeans are encouraged to by smaller, more fuel efficient cars," Gonser said. "In America, our whole marketing approach is 'Big and Strong.' It's what we are."

The need for smaller cars in Europe also has to do with the ever-rising gas prices being seen worldwide. In Europe, gas prices have hit an all-time high, with the U.K. paying more than $2 a gallon.

Gonser said that this forces Europeans to be more conservative.

"In America our gas is subsidized so we pay much lower prices, whereas in Europe they pay a hefty tax," Gonser said.

In addition he said that this is a reflection on the overall mindset of Americans.

"Americans have the highest standard of living, and yet we complain when the gas prices rise just a little," Gonser said. "Yet, with low gas prices no one is going to feel the need to buy the smaller more fuel efficient vehicles."

In a meeting with institutional investors William Clay Ford Jr., owner of Ford Motors, backed up this sentiment.

"There is an underlining taxation policy in Europe which drives consumers to buy smaller thus more fuel-efficient vehicle," Ford said. "We don't have that here [in the U.S.]. We have to put a ton of incentives to move those V6s, and smaller engines."

Because most of an automobile's energy is consumed to transport itself, smaller cars designed specifically for urban and commuting trips are one of the most promising options in fuel efficiency.

Studies show that such cars could slash the nation's fuel consumption by 50 percent and increase traffic flow in congested urban areas by as much as 70 percent.

Prenot, said that Honda's Civic Hybrid is steadily increasing in sales.

"Each month we sell a few more," Prenot said. "The first people who were buying them were doing so as an environmental statement, now it is fuel efficiency."

According to Prenot, Honda makes a point of selling both aspects of the car, its fuel economy and its environmental "greenness."

As compared to other cars, which have an output of 1.0 percent noxious waste, the Civic Hybrid has an output of .08 percent, nearly a 100 percent difference, making it the "greenest" car on the market.

Even with the use of these smaller, more fuel-efficient vehicles, a government-funded study found that vehicle-related pollution is killing more people than car accidents in Austria, France and Switzerland. The book Alternative Cars in the 21st Century: A New Personal Transportation Paradigm, published by the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE), explores the paradigm shift necessary for designers, manufacturers and consumers in order to create a sustainable and environmentally friendly transportation system.

According to the book's author, Robert Q. Riley, a vast change will be necessary in the automotive industry to balance fuel efficiency with economic value.

"Nothing short of a holistic new approach will have much affect," Riley said. "Alternative cars as well as alternative energy sources are inevitable. Car makers are now investing vast sums to find new solutions, and the search for alternative fuels and power systems will ultimately reshape the automobile itself."

In an effort to raise awareness to the problem of car pollution, and protest the high gas prices, the car-free day initiative was sponsored by the European Commission as part of a campaign to reduce congestion and promote cleaner air.

In an effort to raise awareness to the problem of car pollution, and protest the high gas prices, the car-free day initiative was sponsored by the European Commission as part of a campaign to reduce congestion and promote cleaner air.