In his first interview after the election, President-elect Barack Obama emphasized the importance of a new energy policy, worrying that when gas prices fall “suddenly we act like it’s not important, and we start, you know filling up our SUVs again.” In October, the average price of a gallon of gasoline fell to $3.11, the lowest price since February and a dollar less than its peak in June. With gas prices continuing to fall, have Americans forgotten the pain of triple-digit gas bills or are they still willing to be seen in a Toyota Yaris?

It looks like the pain of high gas prices has been forgotten. After seeing a brief surge during the late Spring/early Summer, demand for vehicles averaging over 30 mpg has once again fallen below that of vehicles averaging less than 15 mpg. Perhaps more disheartening, the percent of new vehicle shoppers looking at cars subject to the “gas guzzler tax” has been increasing as well (note the gas guzzler tax does not apply to light trucks).

While the leaders of the Detroit 3 have been hanging around the Capitol building asking for some spare change, some have suggested that any bailout be conditioned upon raising the CAFÉ (fuel economy) standards. It is clear, however, that unless gas prices are sufficiently high Americans are not interested in small, fuel-efficient vehicles. If we want to adopt a new energy policy to begin to wean ourselves off fossil fuels and drive people toward fuel efficient vehicles we must increase the gas tax (gradually) to ensure that gas prices stay above $4. The revenues produced can be returned, in part, in the form of tax rebates, but also to repair our ailing infrastructure. Steady gas prices will also benefit the automakers by alleviating the wild swings in demand from SUV’s to small cars and back again. Will higher gas prices be painful? Of course. Are higher gas prices in our long-term interest? Yes. Will the gas tax be increased? I wouldn’t count on it.

YAGS! In case you’ve missed it, the U.S. has hit a bit of an economic bump in the road. In a rare show of bi-partisan support, the government passed a stimulus package bill, but those checks are quickly being diverted to pay for increasingly expensive food and European-style gas prices. With gas prices hitting record highs almost every day and thus requiring a new story, I think these articles deserve their own onomatopoetic acronym, YAGS - Yet Another Gas Story. “YAGS! I can’t believe I spent that much on gas.”

With YAGS in almost non-stop rotation (and other stories of general economic collapse), how will automotive manufacturers continue to attract shoppers? For manufacturers with a fleet of small fuel-efficient vehicles, it shouldn’t be such a difficult transition, but the Detroit 3 are better known for large gas-guzzling SUVs capable of traversing the jungles of suburbia. The results for those so far have been not good. The folks in Detroit do make some fuel-efficient vehicles, and with a slew of advertising they are making sure people know they don’t have to wait for the Chevy Volt. To help drive that point home, Chevrolet recently took over the MSN home page featuring one of its fuel efficient models, the Cobalt.

During the week of the portal takeover, referrals to Cobalt surpassed 65,000 sessions with 25% of those coming from MSN.com. Among the takeover referrals, 17% engaged with a key shopping tool such as requesting a dealer quote or configuring a vehicle. A Compete study determined vehicle purchasers are twice as likely to engage with a key shopping tool than non-purchasers.

The ad’s fuel-economy messaging clearly resonated with consumers. Chevrolet should be pleased with the success of its takeover of MSN, but did interest spread beyond Chevrolet.com? To determine that, we need to expand our view to determine how well Cobalt is doing in the overall automotive marketplace.

In May, Cobalt shopper counts reached their highest level since February. Despite similar levels of demand, Chevrolet was able to sell almost 60% more Cobalt models in May compared to February. While not as hip and cool as a hybrid, the Cobalt and other small cars can save a substantial amount of money at the gas pump without the added cost of a hybrid engine. By utilizing timely messaging Chevrolet was able to find success in a down market. With gas prices showing no signs of ebbing, nearly every model is featuring fuel-economy messaging from the obvious (Honda Civic) to the not-so-obvious (GMC Sierra). Has their advertising been as effective as the Cobalt’s?