Filed under: MPG, USA



As the Beatles succinctly put it: "It's getting better all the time." That's how we can characterize US new-vehicle fleetwide fuel economy, which last month marked the third straight in which US new vehicles set an all-time record for fuel economy.

In March, new light-duty vehicle sales averaged 23.7 miles per gallon, up from 23.4 mpg a year earlier, automotive researcher TrueCar reports. Cars averaged an even 27 mpg while trucks achieved a 20.2 mpg average.

Midsize cars made the greatest strides, boosting their average fuel economy to 27.7 mpg from 26.3 mpg a year earlier. Meanwhile, Hyundai and its Kia affiliate topped all major automakers with a 27.3 mpg average, while Nissan had the largest single-year jump, with a 1.4-mpg increase to 25.3 mpg.

While March 2013 advanced-powertrain sales were relatively even with 2012 figures, plug-in sales were up 49 percent from a year earlier, largely on monthly record sales of the Nissan Leaf battery-electric.

Last month, the US Environmental Protection Agency said fleetwide fuel economy went up a 1.4 miles per gallon, a single-year record, to an all-time high of 23.8 mpg. All in all, fuel economy is up 16 percent during the past five years. The University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute (UMTRI) also called 2012 a record-high year for fleetwide fuel economy. Check out TrueCar's press release below.Continue reading With 23.7 mpg, March sets third-straight month of record-high fleetwide fuel economy

With 23.7 mpg, March sets third-straight month of record-high fleetwide fuel economy originally appeared on AutoblogGreen on Mon, 15 Apr 2013 15:56:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.



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