Nov. 13 (Bloomberg) -- Toyota Motor Corp., Ford Motor Co. and DaimlerChrysler AG were the only automakers to boost U.S. fuel economy from 1996 through 2005, as more buyers turned to sport-utility vehicles and pickup trucks, a consumer group said.

Fuji Heavy Industries Ltd.'s Subaru stayed the same during the period and fuel efficiency declined at nine other automakers, the Consumer Federation of America said in a report today.

``The market is essentially replacing more fuel-efficient vehicles with less fuel-efficient vehicles,'' said Jack Gillis, the Washington-based group's public affairs director, at a news conference. Sales fell 3 percent for cars during the period while increasing 58 percent for SUVs and pickups, which generally travel fewer miles on a gallon of fuel, the group said.

The report comes as Democrats take control of the U.S. Congress for the first time since 1994, a change that the group said may make legislators ``more friendly'' toward tougher fuel- efficiency standards. U.S. law requires that automakers pay fines if their fleet of vehicles fails to meet federal mileage rules.

Congress may be more likely to pass proposals such as one by Representative Edward Markey, a Massachusetts Democrat, that would raise combined light truck-car standards to an average of 33 miles per gallon by 2016 models, said Mark Cooper, the consumer group's research director.

Auto fuel economy industrywide rose 2 percent, to an average of 25.4 miles per gallon from 24.9 during the 10-year period, the group said in its report. The standard for 2005 models was 27.5 mpg for cars and 21 for light trucks. The truck standard is increasing to 24 mpg by 2011 models under a regulation approved by President George W. Bush's administration in March.

Shift to Larger Vehicles

Automakers have increased fuel efficiency by about 2 percent a year since the 1970s, said Charles Territo, a spokesman for the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers. ``Because of the shift in the fleet to larger vehicles, some of those efficiency gains have been negated,'' he said.

The automakers offer more than 100 models that travel at least 30 miles on a gallon of fuel and 46 models that run on alternative fuels such as ethanol, Territo said.

The alliance is based in Washington and represents nine major automakers including General Motors Corp., Toyota, Ford and DaimlerChrysler.

To contact the reporter on this story: John Hughes in Washington at jhughes5@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: November 13, 2006 15:34 EST