Many commuters are interested in vehicles that will help them save money.
Thursday afternoon and car shoppers are buying. Rapidly rising gas prices have convinced many to downsize their ride. MPGs top most shopping lists.
"Absolutely, gas at $4.00 a gallon is quite a lot," said Kristin Swanson-Hadden.
"If gas prices weren't the way they are now, I would buy a jeep instead of an Elantra," said Chet Patko. "I am buying a 4-cylinder car."
Small fuel efficient cars that squeeze up to 30 to 40 miles per gallon are hot. Sales of Hyundai's redesigned Elantra are up 129% over last April.
Chevrolet sold 25,000 of its new Cruze models last month.
Sales manager Anthony Metelo say folks driving gas guzzlers are lining up to get rid of them.
"Yesterday a guy came in traded pick-up truck and bought an Elantra," said Anthony Metelo. "So he went from a pickup truck with a v-8 and to a car with a 4 cylinder in it, and the guy is very happy."
But experts say the spike in demand for high mileage cars could bring problems in the coming months.
Some inventory is running low, particularly Japanese made models impacted by the March Earthquake. There is only a ten day supply of Toyota Prius Hybrids. Scarcity can trigger higher prices across the board.
Jeannine Fallon is with Edmunds.com.
"Unfortunately gas prices are rising just as small car inventory is shrinking," said Jeannine Fallon. "People looking for new fuel efficient cars may have a hard time finding what they want at the price that they want this summer."
Edmunds believes the shrinking inventory will lead to higher small car prices. Fallon says consumers thinking of buying in that sector in the next six months would likely be better off buying sooner than later.
