Fuel Economy Index Shows Slow Improvement in April

The WardsAuto Fuel Economy Index shows the average fuel economy of light vehicles sold in the U.S. in April was 25.5 mpg (9.2 L/100 km), up 0.1% from year-ago.

The national average gasoline price was $2.528, 3.7% higher than in March and 14.1% above year-ago.

Growing gas prices could have been a significant factor in the index share of standard gasoline models falling slightly to 96.2% from 96.8% in same-month 2016. Share of electric vehicles stayed flat from prior-year, and plug-in hybrids and regular hybrids showed small upticks.

Cars sold in the month averaged 30.1 mpg (7.8 L/100 km), up 0.1% from year-ago. Domestically built cars slipped 0.2%, while imports rated 1.4% above year-ago.

Midsize cars were the only car segment to post a year-over-year gain, up just 0.7%. Luxury models took the largest downturn, 1.3%.

Light trucks scored 22.4 mpg (10.5 L/100 km) on the index, a 2.2% gain on prior-year. The average rating for domestics increased 2.0%, and imported models improved 1.8%.

CUVs reached a best-ever 25.0 mpg (9.4 L/100 km) with a 2.6% gain from April 2016. Penetration of electrics and hybrids in the segment rose from year-ago.

Hyundai’s index score rose 1.7% to a record-high 28.9 mpg (8.2 L/100 km), boosted in large part by sales of the Ioniq hybrid.

Subaru also hit a new high point, 27.3 mpg (8.6 L/100 km), lifted 1.3% by a greater concentration of small car models.

Jaguar Land Rover recorded the biggest year-over-year improvement of tracked companies in April, jumping 6.4% with a higher share of diesel variants and CUVs over SUVs.

Mazda showed the greatest decline from prior-year, down 6.5%, due to shift to CUVs from small cars. With no electrified powertrain options, the automaker’s high rating is reliant on sales of its small models, but the light-vehicle market has been trending toward CUVs.

Mitsubishi was the highest rated automaker (excluding electric-only Tesla) at 29.6 mpg (7.9 L/100 km). Mitsubishi also depends on small vehicle size to reach a high index score.

The industrywide index rating for the first four months of 2017 was 25.4 mpg (9.3 L/100 km) up 0.4% from same-period 2016.

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