Fuel economy of vehicles sold in the United States last year had the sharpest gains in almost four decades, and foreign automakers Honda Motor Co. Ltd., Volkswagen AG and Mazda Motor Corp. had the most efficient fleets.
An annual report by the Environmental Protection Agency showed new cars and trucks had a 16 percent gain in fuel efficiency in the past five years, to an average of 23.8 miles per gallon.
Preliminary data shows an average increase of 1.4 mpg in 2012 from the previous year, which in part was attributed to the drop in Japanese vehicle production after the March 2011 tsunami, said the EPA, which has tracked vehicle fuel efficiency since 1975.
The Obama administration hashed out an agreement with automakers to boost the average fuel efficiency of their vehicles in the next dozen years.
The EPA report shows almost 25 percent of vehicles already in production can meet the 2016 model-year standards, with the bulk of the vehicles using gasoline.
Business, Pages 66 on 03/17/2013