Fuel Economy Rating on New Cars Sold Slips in November

New vehicles sold in the month of November averaged 25 miles per gallon, down 0.1 mpg compared with a downwardly revised October rating of 25.1. Compared with October 2007, fuel economy ratings on new cars sold has improved by 4.9 miles per gallon, or more than 24%.

The figures are based on the average sales-weighted fuel-economy rating printed on a new car’s window sticker and is compiled by Michael Sivak and Brandon Schoettle of the University of Michigan’s Transportation Research Institute.

The sales-weighted unadjusted Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) performance rating averaged 31.1 miles per gallon in November, unchanged month-over-month and up 6.4 mpg since October 2007. These values are not directly comparable to the window-sticker ratings because these are adjusted by the EPA and used to derive the window-sticker ratings.

While the window sticker average is 4.9 mpg higher than when the data were first collected, the average is still 0.8 mpg below its all-time high set of 25.8 mpg set in August 2014. When gasoline prices started dropping in the United States, consumers purchased more light trucks and sport utility vehicles, which get lower mpg ratings and drive down the average.

Manufacturers’ improvements in fuel economy ratings (driven by government policy in most cases) is a fundamental and permanent change in America, similar to changes in the use of public transportation, increases in telecommuting and changes in the age composition of drivers. U.S. demand for gasoline is expected to continue to decline as automakers work toward the fleet mileage mandated average of 54.5 miles per gallon by 2025.

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