Honda posted the highest average fuel economy for 2005 vehicles, but automakers made little progress in making automobiles more fuel-efficient, the US government reported on Thursday, according to the Associated Press (AP).
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The Environmental Protection Agency said in its annual findings that the estimated average fuel economy for 2005 model year vehicles was 21 miles per [US] gallon, a fleet-wide average that increased 0.2 mpg from the previous year.
It was 5% below the peak of 22.1 mpg in 1987, the EPA reportedly said. Since 1997, the fleet-wide average for US automakers’ light-duty vehicles has remained fairly consistent, ranging between 20.6 mpg and 21 mpg.
AP said the fuel economy for cars remained unchanged for the third-straight year at 24.7 mpg. Light trucks, which include pickups, SUVs and minivans, improved to 18.2 mpg, their highest average since the late 1980s.
Honda reportedly led the automakers with a fleet average of 25.1 mpg, followed by Toyota with 23.5 mpg. Ford posted the lowest average at 19.5 mpg, but that represented an increase of 0.4 mpg over the previous model year.
Ford spokesman Mike Moran told the Associated Press the company was making progress, noting the Ford Five Hundred sedan, Freestyle utility and Escape Hybrid models scored among the highest in their individual categories.
DaimlerChrysler followed Ford with 19.8 mpg in its fleet, followed by General Motors with 20.5 mpg. GM also showed an increase of 0.4 mpg from the last model year, AP noted, adding that Volkswagen fell to 23.4 mpg, a drop of 0.4 mpg.
The news agency said the fuel economy figures are important to consumers, with petrol prices averaging more than $2 a gallon at the pump. Light-duty vehicles account for about 40% of U.S. oil consumption.
“Despite the need to cut our oil dependency and curb warming emissions, the government is failing to order carmakers to improve fuel economy, and left to their own devices, they’re not moving forward and some are moving backwards,” Daniel Becker, who runs the Sierra Club’s global warming programme, told the Associated Press.
AP noted that The New York Times reported on Thursday that it had received an embargoed copy of the report for publication on Wednesday but was told later by EPA officials that it would be delayed until next week.
Environmentalists pointed out to AP that the report’s delay coincided with Congress’ final work on an energy bill that does little to boost fuel economy. Becker reportedly said it “would be hard to imagine” that the bill did not play a role in the delay.
EPA spokeswoman Eryn Witcher told AP the report was held “so that we could ensure that the public received the most comprehensive and understandable summary of information possible on fuel economy.”
Light trucks accounted for 50% of vehicle sales of model year 2005 vehicles, nearly twice their market share in 1985, the EPA said, according to the Associated Press.
