Car buyers are now opting for fuel-efficient vehicle offered by different car manufacturers. This is what Auto Alliance announced as a way to start the celebration of National Automotive Alternative Fuel Sunday.

The group of car makers reported that there are now 10.5 million alternative fuel vehicles on U.S. roads according to 2006 sales data from R.L Polk and Co. The data also shows that last year alone, more than 1.5 million alternative fuel vehicles were sold. The figure surpasses the expectation of the auto industry by as much as 50 percent.

Today, car makers based in the U.S. or abroad are offering 60 models of alternative fuel vehicles. These include hybrid electric vehicles, flex-fuel vehicles which can run on a combination of gasoline and bio-ethanol, and diesel engine equipped vehicles which gets its juice from biodiesel.

Dave McCurdy, the President of the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers, has this to say during the announcement: “There are 10.5 million Alternative Fuel Autos on the roads and highways of every state across the country. We are happy to see that consumers are, in fact, discovering the alternatives that are available to them on dealership lots nationwide. We believe that the numbers of Alternative Fuel Autos on the roads continues to rise because consumers can choose from a variety of autos that reduce fuel use while still providing the utility, safety, performance and comfort they seek.”

While there are a lot of alternative fuel vehicle out in the market, car manufacturers are still looking for ways to develop more technology which will be employed by their vehicles to make them more fuel efficient. Alternative fuel vehicles are not the only vehicle to be produced with concern for the environment in mind though.