The return of the gas guzzler? Average fuel economy drops in June.

New cars had lower average fuel economy in June, three months after peaking an all-time high. The culprit? Falling gas prices.

|
Choi Dae-woong/Reuters/File
An employee holds a gas pump at a gas station of Hyundai Oilbank in Seoul earlier this month. The average fuel economy dropped slightly among new cars sold in the US in June.

Back in March, the average fuel economy of new cars sold in America hit an all-time high of 24.1 mpg -- the first time that figure had ever crossed the 24 mpg mark.

Since reaching that point, however, fuel economy has been steadily drifting downward. According to Detroit News, it did so again last month, when the average fuel economy of vehicles sold clocked in at 23.6 mpg.

But efficiency fans shouldn't fret too much: 23.6 mpg is still 3.5 mpg above the average fuel efficiency of new vehicles sold in October 2007, when the University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute first began tracking stats.

Why the slide?

It doesn't take a brain surgeon or an automotive analyst to figure out why fuel economy is on the decline: lower gas prices.

Today, the average cost for a gallon of regular unleaded is $3.36 -- a full 20 cents lower than it was just one month ago, and 60 cents below this year's high of about $3.90, reached in early April. 

How much further gas prices will continue to erode, we can't say. True, oil is cheap, but one good hurricane could send prices back toward $4 per gallon.

What we do know is that fuel economy remains the #1 criteria for American car shoppers. Of course, the top-selling vehicles in the country remain less fuel-efficient pickups -- but then, for the thousands of workers in construction and similar industries, the Toyota Prius really isn't an option.

Are you in the market for a new car? What sort of fuel economy are you hoping for in your next ride?

You've read  of  free articles. Subscribe to continue.
Real news can be honest, hopeful, credible, constructive.
What is the Monitor difference? Tackling the tough headlines – with humanity. Listening to sources – with respect. Seeing the story that others are missing by reporting what so often gets overlooked: the values that connect us. That’s Monitor reporting – news that changes how you see the world.

Dear Reader,

About a year ago, I happened upon this statement about the Monitor in the Harvard Business Review – under the charming heading of “do things that don’t interest you”:

“Many things that end up” being meaningful, writes social scientist Joseph Grenny, “have come from conference workshops, articles, or online videos that began as a chore and ended with an insight. My work in Kenya, for example, was heavily influenced by a Christian Science Monitor article I had forced myself to read 10 years earlier. Sometimes, we call things ‘boring’ simply because they lie outside the box we are currently in.”

If you were to come up with a punchline to a joke about the Monitor, that would probably be it. We’re seen as being global, fair, insightful, and perhaps a bit too earnest. We’re the bran muffin of journalism.

But you know what? We change lives. And I’m going to argue that we change lives precisely because we force open that too-small box that most human beings think they live in.

The Monitor is a peculiar little publication that’s hard for the world to figure out. We’re run by a church, but we’re not only for church members and we’re not about converting people. We’re known as being fair even as the world becomes as polarized as at any time since the newspaper’s founding in 1908.

We have a mission beyond circulation, we want to bridge divides. We’re about kicking down the door of thought everywhere and saying, “You are bigger and more capable than you realize. And we can prove it.”

If you’re looking for bran muffin journalism, you can subscribe to the Monitor for $15. You’ll get the Monitor Weekly magazine, the Monitor Daily email, and unlimited access to CSMonitor.com.

QR Code to The return of the gas guzzler? Average fuel economy drops in June.
Read this article in
https://www.csmonitor.com/Business/In-Gear/2012/0707/The-return-of-the-gas-guzzler-Average-fuel-economy-drops-in-June.
QR Code to Subscription page
Start your subscription today
https://www.csmonitor.com/subscribe