Shenanigans Notwithstanding, Hyundai Still Gets The Best Mileage
After Hyundai was caught by the EPA with the wrong fuel economy ratings on “select vehicles” (read: most of them) media outlets ( including this one) prognosticated that Hyundai would have to abdicate as king of the fuel sippers. Nothing doing, says TrueCar.
According to TrueCar’s sales-weighted rankings, Hyundai continues to put the most automobiles with the lowest fuel consumption on America’s roads – even after Hyundai and Kia had to restate their EPA window stickers, and had to give money back to customers.
On the total average, demand for low consumption vehicles lifted the average across all new cars by a full mile per gallon. Hyundai/Kia lead before Volkswagen and Honda. Interesting: All Detroit 3 are sitting not so pretty below industry average, but could lift their ratings.
Average Car MPGManufacturer12-Oct11-Oct YoYToyota30.328.61.7Honda28.927.81.1Hyundai/Kia28.928.30.6Nissan28.526.42.1Ford28.326.22.1Volkswagen27.927.40.5Industry27.625.91.7GM25.924.61.3Chrysler24.022.91.1In just cars, Toyota leads, the Koreans are in number 3 position, Ford edges past Volkswagen. GM and Chrysler remain below average.
Average Truck MPGManufacturer12-Oct11-OctYoYHyundai/Kia23.523.6-0.1Honda22.421.01.4Volkswagen22.221.50.7Nissan19.819.60.2Ford19.619.40.2Industry19.619.30.3Toyota19.219.3-0.1GM18.718.70.0Chrysler18.218.00.2In the truck discipline, Hyundai/Kia lead, Ford remains above industry average, Toyota is sent into the below-average penalty box, which it shares with GM and Chrysler.
Average Small Car MPGAverage Midsize Car MPGAverage Large Truck MPGManufacturer12-Oct11-OctYoY12-Oct11-OctYoY12-Oct11-OctYoYChrysler31.225.16.123.924-0.115.815.60.2Ford33.332.21.12826.61.417.317.5-0.2GM30.731.2-0.526.225.30.917.1170.1Honda31.832.4-0.627.725.91.817.216.90.3Hyundai/Kia30.631.4-0.82826.61.4 N/A N/A N/AMazda30.926.34.624.425.1-0.7 N/A N/A N/AMitsubishi25.425.8-0.424.324.30 N/A N/A N/ANissan32.230.61.628.425.23.214.314.30Subaru27.421.16.325.422.72.7 N/A N/A N/ASuzuki N/A N/AN/A2525.2-0.2 N/A N/A N/AToyota34.834.10.728.426.12.315.515.7-0.2Volkswagen31.330.70.629.327.91.4 N/A N/A N/AIndustry3231.20.827.425.4216.816.30.5For the “yes, but, I’d like this to be broken down according to …” crowd, here are more breakdowns. For specialized requirements, sundry consulting companies will happily oblige after receipt of the customary obscene fee.
TrueMPGTM computes monthly average fuel economy by brand, manufacturer, origin and vehicle segments by using actual sales data or forecasted sales data for the current month. Calculations start at the trim level, taking into account EPA fuel economy data including engine size and drivetrain that affect a vehicle’s MPG ratings; the sales share from each trim level is then calculated to create an average for each model. Brand level data is calculated by the sales share of each model and the manufacturer data is then based on the share of each brand, providing an accurate and completely data driven picture of actual measured MPGs in the market place. TrueCar utilizes the EPA’s average fuel economy rating using 45 percent highway and 55 percent city driving behavior.
And before I forget it: America’s most fuel-efficient cars still aren’t American. At least not by name.
Bertel Schmitt comes back to journalism after taking a 35 year break in advertising and marketing. He ran and owned advertising agencies in Duesseldorf, Germany, and New York City. Volkswagen A.G. was Bertel's most important corporate account. Schmitt's advertising and marketing career touched many corners of the industry with a special focus on automotive products and services. Since 2004, he lives in Japan and China with his wife <a href="http://www.tomokoandbertel.com"> Tomoko </a>. Bertel Schmitt is a founding board member of the <a href="http://www.offshoresuperseries.com"> Offshore Super Series </a>, an American offshore powerboat racing organization. He is co-owner of the racing team Typhoon.
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The variances on the "Average MPG" are huge, such as " corporate average mpg across all corporate vehicles measured at what speeds on which circuits under what conditions?" I bet if you take any vehicle from any manufacturer and drive it on the open highway for 66 minutes at 85+mph before slowing down for city traffic every day, you'd blow that "Average MPG" all to hell. These mpg figures are nebulous as all hell and YMMV is the caveat here, shenanigans notwithstanding. I have never been able to match or beat the stated mpg figures on any of my vehicles, probably because my driving routine does not match any of the test criteria.
"shenanigans-notwithstanding-hyundai-still-gets-the-best-mileage?" ---this is sales weighted data. --so "shenanigans" is part of the reason that people chose to buy such a large porportion of Hyundi's small cars! If other companies lied as effectively, then they would have been able to sell more small cars, and their MPG numbers have improved.