Fuel economy drops slightly in April
The increase in truck sales does have a downside. The average fuel economy of new vehicles sold in April was down 0.1 mpg from March, to 25.2 mpg, according to a report by the University of Michigan. Fuel economy is down 0.6 mpg from the peak in August, 2014, but up 5.1 mpg since October, 2007, when the researchers began keeping records.
Still, automakers are on track to meet EPAês fuel efficiency standards for 2025, reports the Consumer Federal of America. The percentage of vehicles with an EPA rating of 23 mpg or more increased from 52 percent in 2015 to 56.1 percent in 2016. One of the biggest gains was in the over-30-mpg category, which increased from 11.7 percent to 13.4 percent.
New vehicles are the most significant barometer of a companyês progress, said CFA, and that group had an even bigger jump, with 63 percent that are CAFE-compliant in 2016 compared with 41 percent last year.
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