Average New Car MPG Highest Ever in First Half of 2012
The move towards increased fuel efficiency has been seen all over the automotive industry, with the focus shifting to smaller cars, and higher output small engines to keep fuel costs down for the consumer, and a study done by industry analysts Baum & Associates reveals that the average MPG for cars sold between January and June 2012 was 23.8.
That marks an improvement of 1.1 mpg compared to the same period of time in 2011, showing the trend towards fuel efficiency is still growing. This increase is not due to more people buying small cars however, as the increase in the small car market sales over last year was just 0.4 percent. That means that consumers still like the size, but they are opting for all of the fuel efficient models that automakers have begun to offer.
With fuel efficiency being the top concern for new car buyers, the production of highly fuel efficient, high volume vehicle models have more than doubled since 2009 from 28 to 60, according to analysis by Baum & Associates.
“Thanks to a bumper crop of fuel efficient models in the most popular segments, consumers don’t have to choose between fuel efficiency and performance,” said Alan Baum, principal of Baum & Associates. “No matter what type of vehicle you want, midsize car, minivan, SUV or pickup truck, carmakers are now upping fuel efficiency performance across the board. The new era of auto fuel efficiency is truly here.”
Stephen covers all of the day-to-day events of the industry as the News Editor at AutoGuide, along with being the AG truck expert. His truck knowledge comes from working long days on the woodlot with pickups and driving straight trucks professionally. When not at his desk, Steve can be found playing his bass or riding his snowmobile or Sea-Doo. Find Stephen on <A title="@Selmer07 on Twitter" href="http://www.twitter.com/selmer07">Twitter</A> and <A title="Stephen on Google+" href="http://plus.google.com/117833131531784822251?rel=author">Google+</A>
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