Mobility

Average U.S. fuel economy holds steady in November

December 09, 2016 05:00 AM

The average fuel economy for new cars and light trucks sold in the U.S. remained unchanged in November as an increasing number of light trucks were sold in comparison to cars, the University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute said today.

The window-sticker value of vehicles sold in November stayed at 24.9 mpg. Although the October value was previously reported at 24.8 mpg, UMTRI researchers Michael Sivak and Brandon Schoettle said October’s value has changed to 24.9 mpg to meet the EPA’s recent calculation adjustments.

Car sales continued to decline in November, dropping 3.9 percent from a year earlier, according to the Automotive News Data Center. Pickup sales, however, leaped 13 percent for the same period, while premium crossover sales jumped 14 percent. Total year-over-year light-truck sales increased 8.6 percent in November.

The current fuel economy value is 4.8 mpg higher than in October 2007, when UMTRI started tracking the data. It is down 0.6 mpg from the August 2014 peak of 25.5 mpg, which was also revised for the new EPA calculations.

The price of a regular gallon of gasoline on Friday was $2.198, compared with $2.019 a year ago, AAA reported.

In another study, the institute said the greenhouse gas emission index value for U.S. drivers was 0.83 in September, which is up 0.01 from August, noting the calculation adjustments again. That value means the average new-vehicle driver produced 17 percent fewer emissions in September than in October 2007 but 4 percent more emissions than the record-low reached in November 2015.

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