I think you have the cart before the horse again Gringosabroso. Before you can sell cars with stckdhifts (manual drive) & before you can sell the smaller vehicle which is more economical, you have to EDUCATE the buyer as to why he/she should buy a more economical vehicle.
MUCH more effective would be banning bus drivers & lorry drivers from leaving their engines switched on when NOT in use transporting passengers/products! How often do you see busses sitting at shops the tourists are visiting with their engines still running? If gasoline was an important feature for the Domincan people, why do most CHOOSE a big SUV rather than a smaller SUV (Terios/Suzuki etc)? Gasoline consumption is not YET a serious concern to them - looks & comfort ARE!!
To follow your example of reducing gasoline consumption in the country, maybe the Government ought to ground more of the helicopters that fly around without due cause? Perhaps a law on the size of engine allowed to be imported should be put in force - i.e. max 6 cylinders & 2.500 cc engines? It would be sensible too to reduce the number of planes allowed to land in the country with tourists, this way the country could use the gas saved for the generating stations?
I don't mean to be flipant but as has been proven so many times in the past, EDUCATION of drivers is the first step, CONSERVATION of fuel wasted will be 2nd & comfort & economy of vehicle is 3rd. For those who WISH to have big cars/SUV's, who WISH to waste money by leaving engines running to pollute the area, make Gas US $3.00 or US $4.00 per gallon!! We have an excellent supply of sun & wind here, why not spend the extra money made on selling gas at US $3.00 per gallon to set up wind & solar systems that work?? Any vehicle over 6 cylinders, 2.500 cc engine capacity - slap a 50% increase surcharge on it to pay for solar power investigation!! ~ Grahame.