The data 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 31.4 miles per gallon in March, up 6.7 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 5.3 mpg higher than when the data were first collected, the average is still 0.4 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 (SUVs), which get lower mpg ratings and drive down the average.
The researchers suggest that the rise in March is related to the rising cost of gasoline during the month.
According to Kelley Blue Book, sales of full-size SUVs and crossovers is up nearly 20% year-over-year for the first three months of the year and rose nearly 11% in March, compared with February. Sales of full-size pickups were up 6.9% in the first three months of the year and up 17.5% compared with February. Luxury SUV and crossover sales rose fastest of all SUVs and light trucks: up 23.8% for the year to date and 19.2% over February.
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