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Originally Posted by Gillman
- GM improved fuel economy from 1975 to 2004 by 8 MPG (62%) and reduced their average vehicle weight by 250 pounds (6%).<<
- Toyota improved from 1975 to 2004 by 5 MPG (25%) and increased their average vehicle weight by more than 1,000 pounds (38%).<<
- If GM had only improved their MPG as much as Toyota did, then their 2004 model year fleet would have burned 647 million more gallons of gasoline per year (19% more).<<
- If Toyota had improved their MPG as much as GM did, then their 2004 fleet would have burned 169 million fewer gallons of gasoline per year (13% less).<<
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That's pretty misleading. Toyota, Honda, and Nissan had just gotten a foothold in the market by offering smaller vehicles than the domestics. These companies were only able capture more market share by literally expanding their lineup. GM had to do the opposite partly because of the new CAFE standards and partly because of market realities. The price of oil had just gone up 5 times and would never go back to trading between one to three dollars.
The average domestic vehicle in 1975 weighed 3940 pounds, and managed 15.1 mpg. Meanwhile, the average import weighed 2393 pounds, and got 24.2 mpg. Look at the interior sizes and hp/weight ratios for a bit of a shock.
Historical fleet characteristics.
Is it also fair to say Ford's fleet mileage average of 19.1 has declined 25% from the 80-year old Model-T's 25mpg?