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.
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 MPGAvrg Midsize Car MPGAvrg Large Truck MPGManufacturerNov’12Nov’11YoYNov’12Nov’11YoYNov’12Nov’11YoYChrysler31.325.16.223.923.90.015.815.70.1Ford34.032.21.829.526.62.917.317.4-0.2GM29.831.3-1.526.225.70.517.017.00.0Honda31.932.5-0.628.525.82.717.216.90.3Hyundai/Kia30.930.60.327.827.50.3 N/A N/A N/AMazda30.928.32.524.224.9-0.7 N/A N/A N/AMitsubishi25.525.6-0.124.324.30.0 N/A N/A N/ANissan32.331.30.928.025.03.014.314.20.0Subaru26.520.56.125.524.21.3 N/A N/A N/ASuzuki N/A N/AN/A25.025.1-0.1 N/A N/A N/AToyota34.535.1-0.628.327.40.915.515.6-0.1Volkswagen30.830.60.229.427.32.1 N/A N/A N/AIndustry31.831.70.127.626.01.516.816.80.0And 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.
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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As to Detroit's OEMs being a bit less efficient, well, culture still has lots to do with it, perhaps? As I see it, the "foreign" (non-Detroit) brands design to the prevailing conditions in their home country. Taxed based on horsepower, number of cylinders, doors, wheels - I don't know all the details nor do I care to. Domestic OEMs are certainly myopic and have always been, though progress has been made in many areas. They will never equal the overseas brands for efficiency, though, again, "culture". Why else would they use re-branded imports for their small offerings? Here's my case in point: For over 8 years I owned a 2004 Impala with the 3.4L. On my current commute, I averaged over 30 mpg and got as high as 35.33 mpg going just back and forth to work. I sell it. I buy a new 2012 Impala with the 3.6L. My average fuel economy? Oh...anywhere between 26.5 - 29. One caveat: We also owned a third vehicle I used for running about town, keeping the old Impala strictly for commuting. We sold that, too. I use my new ride for all my around-town running, so that does impact mpgs. Still, all things being equal, my car is a bit less efficient than my old one, however it's a much nicer and certainly a much more powerful car, so I guess it all equals out in the long run. As far as TTAC bashing Detroit, this is something car mags have done for almost 50 years. As I said before, prevailing conditions - meaning regulations, cost of living and other factors in other countries are the influence on how cars are designed and built. Things are much different in the USA. It's all about culture - still. Hope that makes some sort of sense. If not, let the beatings begin!
Almost everything Bertel writes on this site is Detroit bashing. So I take this with a grain of salt. Why shed a tear (or waste an article) over 2 or 3 MPG? We get it. Americans depend on oil and we always have. This is not news. The Big Three, while still thirsty, could be doing a lot worse. Look at how much better their fuel economy has gotten in the past few years alone.