1 in 5
I guess this counts as progress, reported in today's NYTimes:

In what industry analysts are calling a first, about one in five vehicles sold in the United States was a compact or subcompact car during April, based on monthly sales data released Thursday. Almost a decade ago, when sport utility vehicles were at their peak of popularity, only one in every eight vehicles sold was a small car.

The switch to smaller, more fuel-efficient vehicles has been building in recent years, but has accelerated recently with the advent of $3.50-a-gallon gas. At the same time, sales of pickup trucks and large sport utility vehicles have dropped sharply.

I say "I guess..." because..geez still only 1 in 5? That still seems like quite the small percentage to me, especially compared to the rest of the world.

But beyond that, depressingly, it sounds like the reason for this consumer shift is related not directly to high gas prices, and definitely not a result of environmental consciousness (which alone should have accounted for that magnitude a shift, right?), but because of the sorry economy. People just can't afford larger cars, or are worried they won't be able to.