Energy

Fuel Economy Rating Rises in January

Paul Ausick

Published: February 3, 2016 1:05 pm

Last Updated: January 13, 2020 1:40 pm

The average fuel-economy rating for new vehicles sold in the United States in January 2016 was 25.1 miles per gallon, up from an average of 24.9 in December 2015. For all of 2015, the average fuel-economy rating for new vehicles sold was 25.3 mpg, down from 25.4 in 2014.

Compared with October 2007, fuel economy ratings on new cars sold has improved by five miles per gallon, or more than 24%.

While the window sticker average is five mpg higher than when the data were first collected, the average is still 0.7 mpg below its all-time high of 25.8 mpg set in August 2014. When gasoline prices started dropping in the United States, consumers purchased more light trucks, sport utility vehicles (SUVs) and crossovers, which get lower mileage ratings and drive down the average.

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 31.0 miles per gallon in December, down 0.2 mpg month over month and a 6.3 mpg improvement 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.

Auto sales in the month of January are on a pace to equal last year’s record sales of around 17.5 million units, even though total sales were a bit soft due mostly to harsh weather along the East Coast and fewer selling days compared with January 2015. The silver lining is that January is typically the worst month of the year for new car sales.

Americans continue to buy less fuel-efficient SUVs and pickup trucks, and barring some gargantuan event, pump prices are not expected to rise much, if at all, this year.