US drivers opt for cars over fuel-hungry pick-ups

Southfield, Michigan: US average fuel economy for 2008-model cars may be the best since 1993 as consumers buy fewer pick-up trucks and manufacturers build more-efficient vehicles.

The projected rate of 20.8 miles (33.28km) per gallon is 0.2 mpg better than in 2007, the US Environmental Protection Agency said in a report on Sunday.

Buyers' embrace of cars over pick-up trucks is being driven by gasoline prices that reached a record $4.11 (Dh15.08) a gallon in July. Cars accounted for 52 per cent of US new-vehicle sales through August, compared with 47 per cent a year earlier, according to Autodata Corp. in Woodcliff Lake, New Jersey.

"It is extremely likely that the projected fleetwide average" for 2008 is too low, the EPA said. "This value is based on pre-model year sales projections made by automakers at a time when gasoline prices were considerably lower." Automakers are working to meet a US requirement that their combined fleets of cars and pick-up trucks average 35 mpg by 2020.

The government is gradually increasing fuel-economy mandates toward that level. Since 2004, light trucks' efficiency has improved by 1.4 mpg, and cars have gained 1 mpg, the EPA said. Automakers are building more vehicles with technologies such as gasoline- electric hybrid engines and six-speed automatic transmissions. The changing sales mix reflects greater demand for smaller, car-based sport-utility vehicles such as General Motors Corp's GMC Acadia and Ford Motor Co's Edge.