After falling off the radar screen, mileage has crept back up the list of factors consumers consider as they shop for a new car, but the most efficient and least efficient cars aren’t the biggest sellers on the lot. Neither the least or most-efficient cars are likely to make a big dent in the U.S. fuel supply
Michael Flynn, director of the Office for the Study of Automotive Transportation at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, says it appears consumers are taking a harder look at the fuel-economy number. A new study from the American Petroleum Institute shows consumers used less fuel in 2000 than they did in 1999, suggesting they are sensitive to rising fuel prices.
Sales figures, however, show that the most fuel-efficient cars, with the notable exception of the Honda Civic, are still not big sellers. And the least efficient cars, such as exotic sports cars or big, heavy luxury cars with prices starting at around $150,000, attract only a limited number of wealthy buyers.
At the top of the Environmental Protection Agency mileage list published at the beginning of the 2001 model year were the new gasoline-electric hybrids, the Honda Insight and Toyota Prius. The two-seat Insight earned top honors on the mileage list, getting 61 miles per gallon in city driving and 68 m.p.g. on the highway in the EPA tests. The slightly larger Toyota Prius posted 52 m.p.g. in city driving and 45 m.p.g. on the highway. Sales of hybrids did better than expected but totaled less than 10,000 units, according to both companies.
The Volkswagen Golf, Jetta and Beetle equipped with small diesel engines also did well on the EPA tests. But Americans tend not to buy diesels so the cars aren’t widely distributed here, VW officials admit.
Diane Steed, head of the Coalition Vehicle Choice, a lobbying group aligned with the auto industry that argues against stricter fuel economy standards, says vehicles on the EPA’s “Most Fuel Efficient List” for the 2000 model year accounted for only 2 percent of the cars sold last year and less than 1 percent of the trucks.
Steed added that the minivans sold today are more fuel efficient that the subcompacts of 20 years ago.
The fuel-sipping end of the market is ruled by the Honda Civic, which accounted for more than three-fourths of the sales of passenger cars on the EPA list. “With fuel prices hitting new highs, we see consumers looking more closely at fuel economy as a factor in their car purchase,” said Tom Elliott, executive vice president of American Honda Motor Co. “It’s great to receive this recognition.”
Executives from Bentley and Ferrari, however, are more sanguine about the fuel-economy issue.
John Crawford, a spokesman for Rolls-Royce and Bentley, says fuel economy isn’t an issue for Bentley owners.
“We set out to meet the demands of our customers,” Crawford says. “Our customers want the comfort and luxury that comes with a large car. The downside of that is we have to give up some fuel economy.”
