U.S. Fuel Economy Nearly Flat in October

The WardsAuto Fuel Economy Index rating for U.S. light-vehicle sales reached 25.2 mpg (9.3 L/100 km) in October, up just 0.2% from same-month 2014 and 0.4% below September’s result.

October normally shows a strong improvement as updated vehicles begin entering the market for the new model year. Last month had by far the lowest year-over-year increase, as the previous smallest gain was 1.7% in October 2013.

The national average gas price in October was $2.387, 3.0% less than September and 26.7% below same-month 2014. The share of traditional gasoline-powered vehicles on the index rose to 95.6%, a 4-year high for any month. The growth in standard gasoline powertrains came at the expense of hybrids and diesel vehicles, which had shares fall to 4-year lows.

CUVs continued to pull shoppers away from cars. Small cars remained the only segment above 30 mpg (7.8 L/100 km) with a record-high 31.7 mpg (7.4 L/100 km) in October, but the segment accounted for only 15.7% of index-tracked light-vehicle sales, a low point since December 2007. Sales of midsize and large cars were up slightly from September, but down from year-ago. CUVs hit a peak 24.1 mpg (9.8 L/100 km) and accounted for 31.6% of tracked vehicles, up from 27.4% same-month 2014.

Despite slow index growth overall due to the popularity of CUVs and gas-powered vehicles pulling consumers from small cars and alternative powertrains, model-year improvements boosted some automakers to record high ratings.

Honda scored 27.9 mpg (8.4 L/100 km) and Kia reached 25.7 mpg (9.2 L/100 km). Mazda likely will be the next company to surpass 30 mpg (7.8 L/100 km) as it hit 29.4 mpg (8 L/100 km) in October.

Volvo also hit a high point, 22.8 mpg (10.3 L/100 km), with the help of the new XC90 plug-in hybrid.

Year-to-date, the index rating sat at 25.3 mpg (9.3 L/100 km), 1.0% above the same period in 2014. This year is on track to be the least-improved from the previous year.

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