Toyota, Honda, Ford Hybrids Lead Fuel-Economy
List
2006-10-18
(Bloomberg) -- - Toyota Motor Corp., Honda Motor Co.
and Ford Motor Co. gasoline-electric vehicles led the U.S.
government's fuel-efficiency rankings for 2007 models, as
Toyota and Honda accounted for seven of the top 10.
Gasoline-electric models held the top four slots, with
Toyota's Prius sedan first, followed by Honda's Civic
small car, Toyota's Camry midsize car and Ford's Escape
sport-utility vehicle with front-wheel drive. The Prius was
second last year, behind Honda's two-seat Insight, which
ended with the 2006 model after leading the list since it
began sales in 1999.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency released the
2007 list today in Washington, saying the information will
help consumers conserve energy and save money.
U.S. fuel prices that rose above $3 in midyear helped sales
of hybrids, sold by Toyota, Honda and Ford, rise 24
percent from a year earlier to 192,312 this year through
September, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
Total sales of cars and light trucks fell 3.7 percent to 12.7
million, while Toyota's rose 13 percent and Honda's
gained 4.3 percent as they benefited from demand for
fuel-efficient models.
The EPA's rating for the 2007 Prius is 60 miles per gallon
in city driving and 51 mpg on highways. The Civic gets 49
mpg in cities and 51 on highways, the agency said. It rates
the Camry hybrid at 40/38 and the Escape with front-
wheel drive at 36/31.
Volkswagen AG diesel cars that were in last year's top
five, the New Beetle/Golf and the Jetta, aren't in the new
list.
Rest of Top 10
The other vehicles in the 2007 top 10 are Toyota's Yaris
subcompact car with manual transmission, fifth; the
Yaris with automatic transmission, sixth; Honda's Fit
subcompact with manual transmission, seventh; Toyota's
Corolla small car with manual transmission, eighth;
Hyundai Motor Co.'s Accent and Kia Motor Corp.'s Rio
small cars, both manual, tied for ninth; and Ford's
Escape hybrid and Mercury Mariner hybrid, both with
all- wheel-drive, tied for 10th.
Hybrids combine a gasoline engine with electric motors
that run on batteries recharged during braking, reducing
fuel usage and pollutant emissions.
Lamborghini SpA's L-147/148 Murcielago with automatic
transmission ranked worst on the fuel-efficiency list with
9 miles per gallon in city driving and 14 mpg on
highways. Volkswagen's Bentley Arnage LWB was
second worst at 10/15 and the Lamborghini L-147/148
Murcielago manual was third at 10/16.
The list doesn't include trucks such as General Motors
Corp.'s Hummer H2 with a gross vehicle weight rating of
more than 8,500 pounds, which are exempt from U.S.
fuel-economy rules.
This story was printed at: 30-10-2011 19:35:38
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