Survey Says: Detroit Can’t Shake The Drinking Habit – Blame The Enablers!

Demand for fuel-efficient vehicles remains strong, and the fleet of newly bought cars is taking to the streets getting a better mileage on average than a year before. The cars sold by Hyundai/Kia are most miserly with their fuel, with Volkswagen close behind. Automobiles from Detroit on the other hand stay thirsty. This is the result of TrueCar's TrueMPG survey. Average MPG Average Car MPG Average Truck MPG Nov'12 Nov'11 YoY Nov'12 Nov'11 YoY Nov'12 Nov'11 YoY Hyundai/Kia 26.8 26.4 0.4 28.6 28.3 0.4 23.0 23.0 0.0 Volkswagen 26.7 26.1 0.6 28.0 27.3 0.7 22.1 21.8 0.3 Honda 25.9 24.2 1.8 29.7 28.4 1.3 22.5 21.1 1.4 Toyota 24.4 24.2 0.1 30.1 29.7 0.4 19.2 19.3 -0.1 Nissan 23.5 23.1 0.5 28.2 26.4 1.8 20.0 19.5 0.5 Industry 23.2 22.3 0.9 27.5 26.3 1.1 19.8 19.4 0.4 Ford 22.4 21.4 1.0 28.8 26.1 2.7 19.7 19.6 0.2 GM 21.1 20.4 0.7 25.3 24.9 0.4 18.9 18.5 0.4 Chrysler 19.9 19.5 0.5 23.7 22.4 1.3 18.3 18.2 0.0 The sales-weighted survey determines the average MPG by associating the number of actual cars sold with their EPA rating. When we publish these numbers, howls of protests ensue, and we hear complaints that carmakers who sell lots of trucks get penalized. Well, that's the point. Fuel efficient cars can only help make us independent from foreign oil and spare the atmosphere additional harm if they get bought. As inconvenient as it may sound, automobiles sold by the Detroit 3 are doing – on average – a substandard job. However, TrueCar also broke it out by segments, and if you like BIG TRUCKS, then you will find solace in the fact that Ford and GM sell gas guzzlers with some of the best sales averaged mileage, whereas Toyota's and Nissan's behemoths  suck bigtime. Avrg Small Car MPG Avrg Midsize Car MPG Avrg Large Truck MPG Manufacturer Nov'12 Nov'11 YoY Nov'12 Nov'11 YoY Nov'12 Nov'11 YoY Chrysler 31.3 25.1 6.2 23.9 23.9 0.0 15.8 15.7 0.1 Ford 34.0 32.2 1.8 29.5 26.6 2.9 17.3 17.4 -0.2 GM 29.8 31.3 -1.5 26.2 25.7 0.5 17.0 17.0 0.0 Honda 31.9 32.5 -0.6 28.5 25.8 2.7 17.2 16.9 0.3 Hyundai/Kia 30.9 30.6 0.3 27.8 27.5 0.3  N/A  N/A  N/A Mazda 30.9 28.3 2.5 24.2 24.9 -0.7  N/A  N/A  N/A Mitsubishi 25.5 25.6 -0.1 24.3 24.3 0.0  N/A  N/A  N/A Nissan 32.3 31.3 0.9 28.0 25.0 3.0 14.3 14.2 0.0 Subaru 26.5 20.5 6.1 25.5 24.2 1.3  N/A  N/A  N/A Suzuki  N/A  N/A N/A 25.0 25.1 -0.1  N/A  N/A  N/A Toyota 34.5 35.1 -0.6 28.3 27.4 0.9 15.5 15.6 -0.1 Volkswagen 30.8 30.6 0.2 29.4 27.3 2.1  N/A  N/A  N/A Industry 31.8 31.7 0.1 27.6 26.0 1.5 16.8 16.8 0.0 And speaking of trucks, Jesse Toprak, Senior Analyst at TrueCar, expects " to see TrueMPG dip in December as more consumers snap up larger SUVs and trucks." Disclosure: While the author lived in the U.S.A., he drove a Ford Expedition, ostensibly to "pull the boat." The 90 mph race boat gave him 1 mpg at WOT. from The Truth About Cars http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com

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