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Guest Post by Frugal, Iva is a writer for TotallyMoney which is a website that helps you compare loans for people with bad credit and cards for bad credit. She also runs a popular personal finance blog where she shares moneysaving ideas and frugal tips.
For years and years it was considered un-American to buy a car or truck that wasn’t manufactured by one of the major American manufacturers. Whether it was Ford, General Motors or Dodge, you’d better have had one of these vehicles parked in your driveway, or you weren’t doing your civic duty.
Right around the 1973 gas and energy crisis, and again during the 1979 energy crisis, it suddenly became okay to buy foreign cars – especially Japanese cars – because of their remarkably better fuel economy as well as their increased life span.
Ever since, it seems that American auto manufacturers have been playing catch up, and lately, it seems the distance in popularity between Japanese and American cars is as large as it has ever been. This is probably linked to the fact that as gas prices have dramatically increased, foreign car manufactures – especially Japanese cars – have introduced a myriad of gas saving measures, with the most popular being hybrid technologies.
All that being said, I wanted to see how vast the difference in gas mileage really is between the top five most fuel efficient American cars vs. the top five most fuel efficient Japanese cars:
Top 5 Most Fuel Efficient American Cars:
- Ford Escape Hybrid – 36 mpg city / 31 mpg highway
- Chevy Aveo – 26 mpg city / 35 mpg highway
- Ford Focus – 26 mpg city / 34 mpg highway
- Chevy Cobalt – 25 mpg city / 34 mpg highway
- Ford Fusion – 24 mpg city / 32 mpg highway
Top 5 Most Fuel Efficient Japanese Cars:
- Honda Insight – 60 mpg city / 66 mpg highway
- Toyota Prius – 60 mpg city / 51 mpg highway
- Honda Civic Hybrid – 49 mpg city / 51 highway
- Toyota Corolla – 32 mpg city / 41 mpg highway
- Toyota Matrix – 30 mpg city / 36 mpg highway
After doing some math, I figured the average of the top five American cars gets 27.4 mpg in the city and 33.2 mpg on the highway, while the average of the top five Japanese cars get 46.2 mpg in the city and 49 mpg on the highway. This equates to 68% better gas mileage in the city and 48% better gas mileage on the highway for Japanese cars.
The most obvious cause for the difference is due to the fact there are three hybrid cars included on the Japanese list while there is only one hybrid car on the American list.
While gas mileage certainly isn’t the only indicator as to why certain cars sell better than others, I don’t think you can discount the fact Japanese cars tend to get much better gas mileage than their American counterparts when looking at the dramatic rise in sales of Japanese cars vs. an equally dramatic fall in the sales of American cars.
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I drive a 92 Nissan Sentra 5-spd (1.6l) that acheives 36 mpg city and 40 mpg highway. My roommate drives a ’07 Toyota Yaris 5-spd. (1.5l) with similar actual gas mileage. With his being so new and not included on the list where applicable (appearing in order based on city mpg), how accurate is this list truely. Did they choose vehicles from ’06 model year? What about the ’06 Yaris sold in Mexico, Canada, and obviously Japan? Anyone else have input about the accuracy or their own gas mileages?
All of the information listed is for 2006 cars, and all of the information was taken directly from Fueleconomy.gov. I believe they list EPA estimates, which are almost always different from what people actually get.
This is actual estimates, but it is from 2006 model years?
The Honda Insight is barely a car – lets at least seat 4 people. And hybrid car mileage ratings seem to be farther away from reality than is usual for most cars. So its probably more like 25 mpg vs. 35 mpg.
If you guys think this is good fuel economy, you ought to look at what small European and Japanese diesels can do. They’re probably not sold in the USA, though. Wouldn’t want your oil companies losing profits by selling less fuel, would you?
American made cars are so munch better then imports.
forget about the mpg you need to buy american made cars i drive a mustang i get 29 mpg and i know chevy and dodge got good cars too forget imports american made cars are the best stop buying imports there killing america it is unamerican to drive imports so stop buying them.
Thanks for the comment. Althought I would love to agree with you, if you look at items like fuel economy, resale value, life length, etc., it seems that foreign cars tend to be a little bit better than American cars. Keep in mind, I have only driven American cars, so I do have a “vested” interest in saying American cars are better, but at this point I don’t really believe it.
Gosh how I long for my old 83 Thunderbird Herritage – you know – the one with the first new design! Of course, it always overheated (302 block), & needed several radiator rod-outs, new sun-gear & general engine overhauls. But I loved that car!
B ut I have wised up. There is no fortidue in buying an American piece of s_ _ _ . Funny how the Big Three just don’t get it – and they are still losing money! And Americans still support middle East Oil by driving their big-ole SUVs.
My Mazda3 has had no problems for almost 4 years. Great mileage, too!
Ummm wait you have a Toyota matrix on there but not the Pontiac Vibe which is the same damn car? http://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/compx2005f.jsp?year=2006&make=Pontiac&model=Vibe&hiddenField=Findacar
Talk about a skewed comparison. What about a Saturn? It is 26/35. If you are going to do a comparison at least do a truthful and fair one.
Jilted – Thanks for the comment, and you’re right, it is a bit skewed. I believe when I wrote this I was just quickly checking cars and gas mileage. I was actually planning on writing an updated post for 2007 models and will be sure to be a little more thorough this time around.
Don’t forget you can’t even buy the Honda insight anymore. Honda stopped making them because they couldn’t sell many, I think they were selling about 400 a month which is a very low number in the car industry. I wonder if they will make a movie called “Who killed the most fuel efficient car”, probably not people aways think foreign car companies can do no wrong.
I believe that the fuel mileage isn’t the only reason why Japanese cars sell more than American and European cars. I believe that Japanese cars also look better overall when compared to other cars. As a matter of fact, I noticed the other day a new Ford Focus 2007, and it made me realize how much different it looked. They made it look more like a Japanese import car than it’s previous models. There’s a Ford Focus hatch that looks like is copying the Honda Civic hatch. Also, there’s a VW that’s copying the look of Honda Civic hatch, I saw it in a magazine. I mean they’re resemblance is too close of that of Honda’s. It sucks for the economy of the US as these companies (Ford, GM, etc.) are spiraling down, but that’s what they get for trying to rip people off. I went to an automotive technical school, and even the instructors (which are ASE Certified Master Technicians and are fans of Ford, GM, etc.) told us that if they (Ford, GM, etc.) didn’t pull their heads out of their ass, that they were going to be finished. I heard this from at least three instructors that favored these companies.
http://www.oglindaretrovizoare.ro/poze/focus1.jpg
So true, the American companies are trying to appeal to the high market. Believe it or not, trucks are big right now. Ford and GM make most of their money on their truck lineups. Take the Ford F-150 for example. It’s popularity is up there with the Toyota Camry despite the price of crude. With the price of oil, their sales have dropped significantly but still trucks remain the highest source of their income. If someone wants a reliable, fuel efficient car, they will most likely buy Japanese. It is not only the fact that Japanese cars are generally more reliable but that the majority of consumers “believe” that Japanese cars are more reliable. Im almost positive that if Honda and Ford put out the same exact car, more would be sold under the Honda name. Consumers want what they want because it is asumed they are buying a better product.
On another note. To the ignorant individual who said that buying Japanese was “unamerican”, I say this: Many popular “Japanese” cars are manufactured in the United States by AMERICAN workers. Many popular “American” cars are outsourced to countries like MEXICO and CANADA. So yeah, if you want to be all patriotic, buy a Honda Civic instead of your Ford F-150…Look it up.
Reliability wise, I will attest that import autos, especially Japanese and European, are generally far more reliable then American automobiles. I have owned several cars, some American & some Imports, and the Imports ALWAYS came out on top. This is not to say this is the case for everyone, it just was in my dealings with automobiles.
Actually Canada and the US have had an auto pact since the 60′s that divides the production according to market share. Thus it is absolutely incorrect to suggest that cars are outsourced to Canada where as it is correct to say that they are outsourced to Mexico or South Korea.
A car can be built in Canada and be considered 0 North American content A car can be built in the USA and considered 0 North American content. We agreed in the 60′s that of the North American market was in Canada and in the USA so we divided up the manufacturing to suit this and agreed on common wage packages to keep the field level for both sides of the border.
a friend of mine, he is an engineer from Ford and he drives toyota and they pressure to buy american cars but the thing is he doesn’t like american cars because he knows that after 100,000 miles the car start breaking down as for japanese cars its last for a long time and
very reliable and dependable.
True, but I think that American cars are becoming more and more reliable. However, it’s going to be tough to be shake the the bad rap.
I have been a mechanic for 22 years and I love reading things like this im going to say right now jap cars are not more reliable they may brain wash you and make you think they are. I have heard many people say my Honda never breaks I find that very funny it is a machine and all machines break. I also run a towing business and I tow in more imports with broken timing belts than any other vehicle yes I work on a lot of domestic but they do not leave the owner on the road they may run poor when I get them but they still run. It sounds like there are a bunch of American trying to make there self feel better for buying jap cars any way you look at it even Toyota You are building Japanese economy and killing ours the us Look at jd power and associate the Pontiac grand prix has been the most dependable and best initial quality mid size car for the last 3 years not to mention my 05 with the 3.8 will get 34mpg on the high way I have seen many chevy and dodge trucks with well over 250,000 miles http://www.knfilters.com/news/news.aspx?ID=157 How many jap cars do you see 1 million miles on I have found articles on chevy truck with over 3 million miles on them. Also look on the road or dmv records how many jap vehicles form the late 80’s early 90’s are on the road now look at American vehicles there is many more so right there it shows domestic cars last longer the bodies on jap vehicles are terrible after a few winters they a rotted out bad and most jap truck end up with a wooden box. Another fun website http://chevy200k.com/gallery/ Maybe people forget what the japs did to us um pearl harbor we already rebuilt Japan now we are making it bigger and better than the USA its sad there cost of labor is higher than ours that is why they build plants in the usa to save money! And look at all the big management at Toyota or Nissan in the us all japs hear on a work visa sending our money back to Japan so go buy a jap car support the japs let the us go into a another depression
Mike what you are talking about is called global commerce and globalization, maybe itis something hard for you to understand but that’s the way it world works now. you can’t say you can’t go buy a mazda because it’s japanese, without doing your research only to find out your patriotic Ford has a controling share of 33.4 % of the company. Same for GM and Daewoo and countless corporations. Corporations are really patriotic to money period. The fact is that markets are driven by the better product and it is evident what products are better than others. If you really believe that being patriotic equals being loyal to corporations i suggest you get some education. But yeah, in general I believe Japanese cars are reaching for the stars while american ones can’t quite get there.
In Europe we drive diesel (60MPG). Japanese cars style not copied by Euros! Always other way around…
But Jap cars are still good) THose prius figures are totally wrong. In reality prius averages 43 MPG! Google prius figures (especially the american surveys) make interesting reading. The cost and energy involved in building car make the car rather pointless.
the reason that japanese cars seem like they have a better value is because the japanese government intentionally floods their market with yens to bring the value of their currency down. the us should not be trading with countries that manipulate their currency and use it as a means of sciphoning wealth away from america. Enjoy your toyota now but with a continued trade deficit and no resolution to currency manipulation the us economy will faulter.
1. Our diesel requirements are different in the states than in foreign countries, that is a big reason why we do not import the foreign diesel vehichles. USA has low sulfur diesel, a cleaner fuel, in fact if you read the pumps at certain stations there is a warning against using the non low sulfur fuel in modern American diesels
2. The F-150 is the top selling vehicle in America, and if you combine the GM trucks, they sell nearly 2.5 million trucks. The camary does not come close to the sale of F150s. The F-150 is still built in the usa, at Dearborn Michigan.
3. The world is a total global market, it really does not matter where you buy the car any more, the money still circulates. When you buy a “foreign” vehicle and the money is sent back over seas, those countries buy American Bonds because our currency is stable. With our bonds low interest and inflation at 4.0% we are actually paying them back with less real dollars because of inflation. Our bonds stay well below 4% so after the life of the loan, we actually made money off of their money. Maybe instead of arguing over where to buy the cars and keep pointing out to check this fact about what vehicle, you might want to check out a book on economics.
“USA has low sulfur diesel, a cleaner fuel, in fact if you read the pumps at certain stations there is a warning against using the non low sulfur fuel in modern American diesels”
Well, US diesel has between 300 and 500 ppm of sulfur when Europe’s 15-20 ppm… That’s why by 2010 all 50 States have to be up to the same standards than Europe!! And that’s why GM is already announcing a full line of diesel cars and SUVs. The problem with sulfur is that it (slightly) damages the engine emission-control system; that’s why modern diesel cars could not be used here (aside of the 18-wheeler black-smoke-loud perception)
Simple case: I brought a new Diesel powered car which is just as powerful, almost as smooth and just as nice as my previous car, but about 1/3rd more efficient. A simple gain for the environment.
The problem is this common perception that fuel economy = horrible cars.
Phil
http://www.talkclimatechange.com
if honda and toyota were supporting as many retired workers as gm,ford,or dodge
they couldnt survive—you have to rember these retired arent on public dole as they have a respectale income.
American cars have the same reliability if you take care of the vehicle. What you need to realize is the fact that these are machines, many of the parts come from the exact same place, it has nothing to do with “reliability” some people simply do not care for their vehicles. All of you Japanese company supporters I hope you did not serve in the US Military because it is almost like being a traitor to your country. Ask yourself this, if i do not support the US economy, how will the workers that I put out of work buy the product or service that I myself provide in my job? WAKE UP AMERICA, YOU ARE SINKING YOURSELVES!!
I agree 100% with mike and jamison. Americans need to wake up and support our economy. How much longer can the economy or currency stay stable, Mr blank? Do you people really enjoy watching thousands of GM workers go on stike and possably loose there jobs. Can you comprehend the ripple affect that can cause. I understand that in your opinoin GM corp. are cheap b@#%* and they are geting what they deserve, but i also understand that with the compitition from foriegn auto makers that, you guys have created, they are just trying to stay on top.
Funny mike should mention the pontiac grand prix ,I’ve had 2. Myfirst one racked up 280,000 miles in 10 years and my second one 130,000 in 5yrs.
Ive always worked an hour away and both cars drove like new. Most problems were recalls and no major components ever needed changing.
i only got rid of my second grand prix 2001 for my sons dream car, of course being 17 he wanted a new 2006 honda civic. Well having nothing against hondas gas milage, i got him the civic and not even 6 month of owning it a rattle under the dash, and a squeeking noise from the rear glass has developed. Well they fixed the noise behind the dash but say they cant find anything wrong with the rear windshield. My son says it’s annoying and he will keep annoying me till i get it fixed.
I am also an auto technician / aircraft mechanic and the only thing i see foriegn cars have better than american cars is the gas milage.
Yes its true we repair more timing belts /damaged engines on jap cars than american cars but that could also be because alot of american cars have timing chains which the competition havn’t really discovered. I’m sure it’s just a matter of time. How do you think they got to were they are now in such a short period of time, they learned from the best. I mean really, they were still riding on bicyles when we were riding in convertables. They always immulate our ideas and techology. Now they have come up with a large vehicle that could easily be mistaken for a ford, the new Toyota Tundra. But I bet the underbody components aren’t
as big or beafy as the american counterparts. Most foriegn chasis and suspensions are toy like and fragile. These parts , along with body fenders don’t get the quality corrosion preventive treatment american cars get. Oh! and another thing why are more and more asians driving american cars. My wife is korean and I’ve seen this in korea and in there Television shows. It’s sort of status thing. The big three has facilities world wide and they employ world wide. They provide income to millions of workers. If we continue in the direction we are headed the big three wll be forced out of america and we will have to depend on the foriegn auto makers to provide us with jobs. What if they pulled out of america or desided since we are the axes of evil not to trade with us any more?
Obviosly you guys dont know shit about cars anyways ,ya’ll should try talking about the good old american cars and and the european cars .those are obviosly real cars.
You’re excactly right, thats what we’ve been trying to tell you!
Oh yeah Trevor, old cars were models of fuel effiency. Clearly you are the one who does not know shit.
As far as the top list for fuel economy cars they left one out and that is the Chevy Malibu, I have a 05 and I get just as good mileage as a lot of the 4 bangers get I have the 3.5 200 hp V6, when I drive at 70 mph with GOOD road contions, lite wind etc I have been getting 36.8 to 37.3
steady and at 50 -55 mph I have gotten up to 38.3 and this is not a tall tail I have talked to other Malibu owners and they have been getting around the same, I think what helps is that I use Mobile 1 synthetic oil
and the K&N air filter and of coarse good driving habits, as far as the Escape Hybrid we have one here at work and we don’t even get close to your ratings, we get 23-24 for our city average driving and 27 on highway thats with the all wheel drive.
Did you know that there is a Toyota plant in Texas!!! With American employees!!! Drive a Civic, then drive a Dodge Neon. Hmmmmmm. Tell me which is better made. But try not being bias. If you ask me, all the automakers should be ashamed of themselves. In the 80′s there where cars that had 60+ miles to the gallon. (CRX) It is now 2 decades later and technology has gone backwards. It kinda makes you feel like sheep doesn’t it. Being pushed around with no say on what happens. I guess all we can do is vote on a candidate who might do something about this. Like Gulliani. (just kidding)
Remember folks, patriotism is not nationalism and some of the pro-American car comments are more nationalistic than anything else.
Nationalism defends any country’s “Motherland” in defiance of truth and rationality. Saying one country’s cars are superior simply because of personal experience and fervent loyalty to waving your flag of choice is what got Germany the Nazi’s.
Being a patriot includes not sending our national wealth to foreign countries for consumable oil.
A patriot doesn’t throw garbage out the window of a car, doesn’t let untreated sewage into a river, and doesn’t pollute the air by driving a gas hog.
There’s nothing cool about pollution. There’s nothing cool about sending the dollar into a downward death spiral and our country into economic submission because we’re so uneducated we cannot see the consequences of wasting resources and wanton desires.
I’m proud to say I’m American and I drive a 48mpg import. A 4 door sedan with a big trunk. I also ride bike for local things and combine trips when possible.
There’s nothing American about a gas pig.
Is it necessary to cover the back wheel of these cars? That is the tackiest thing you can do to a car, next to adding an over-sized wing.
The comments here are hilarious.
First, I’m going to give credit were credit is due, American Trucks are the best built. There is no doubt that America can build the most rugged trucks available, because our market demands durable trucks.
Cars, not so much. My coworker just had to sell her 91 Camry. Why? Because she got bored with it after 510,000 miles. Saab has an 800K club.
Different companies are aiming for different things. I’m sure if we removed many of the regulations US companies would stop producing anything but trucks, SUV’s, and muscle cars in America. But that also means that these foriegn companies would sell more cars. Volvo prides itself on being the safety, Toyota on MPG, Hyundai on affordability, ect. So what’s the issue? How many people that demanded that Ford, GM, Dodge “catch up” with Japanese cars on MPG ratings are now going to buy an American Car? They probably wont, they are already loyal to their brand. So, all it boils down to is that they don’t want others to have a choice.
It’s no longer the 70′s were the Big Three dictated to the US consumer what kind of car they will drive. We have choices, and thusly we should be responsible for them, and allow other people (companies included) to buy and produce whatever kind of car they want. If gas spikes, people buy whatever gets the best milage, regardless of the maker. If Ford can’t keep up, don’t force them along, let them hang themselves. They now employ less US workers than Toyota anyways.
I read your article and frankly it’s not even close to true. My first hint to this what in the second sentence of the article “Whether it was Ford, General Motors or Dodge” Dodge is owned by Chrysler (if you didn’t know that you shouldn’t be righting an article about cars). However, you did and you need to research your numbers again because I believe they are a bit off.
P.S. Ill always drive American
Hey Brian,
You should read my last post and research a little before you post “facts”. You said this about American Cars “Cars, not so much. My coworker just had to sell her 91 Camry. Why? Because she got bored with it after 510,000 miles. Saab has an 800K club”. Saab is General Motors… aka American. American cars today (not in the 80′s) are just as well built or better for milage as anyone else out there. A man in wisconsin just got 1 million miles out of a 81′ chevy silverado… look it up if you dont belive me
Al,
Yes, I’m aware that Dodge is part of Chrysler. If my numbers are off, I’d like it if you would provide your own data, as opposed to your beliefs. My data came directly from fueleconomy.gov, which posts information directly from EPA estimates.
P.S. I currently drive American.
American cars have caught up with quality. They also have great gas mileage. I drive a 2005 Chevy Cobalt And I’ve gotten as mush as 40.2 mpg on a 200 mile trip. People buying japanese cars, send the profits from those cars back to Japan. It hurts our economy.
Im sorry but American still isnt as good as Japanese, they offer superior quality (mind you there are always a few with problems in every company), better fuel economy and way better resale value. My 1994 Honda Accord was just totalled with over 200,000 miles on it, no problems and i was given $4,500. I’d like to see a Ford or GM car do that in the same year and have the same mileage. Most of you already know the answer, none of them can. And to all of you who say we’re hurting the economy, can you blame us for not buying American. Why on Earth do so many people keep buying Japanese made cars when the economy is in shambles? I dont know, maybe because they’re great cars. The Honda Accord and Toyota Carmy (Best Selling Car in America) both sell over 200,000 Units annually. How is that possible? Why on Earth do people keep buying Japanese if so many of you say they have problems? Mainly because they have less problems in the long run. Sure, theres a broken timing belt here and there, but your suppose to change there every X-amount of miles. I sure would rather fix a broken timing belt at 75,000 miles than replace an engine or a transmission at 130,000. When my Accord was totalled, I was given a rental to help me through. It was a Chevy Cobalt, and i must say, for as much as GM has supposedly “come a long way to reinvent itself”, i was quite unimpressed. Lets see where to start, i guess with the exterior, an ugly black antenna on the back, can they not build them into the rear glass like Honda and Toyota do? Plasic side mirrors(not power by the way). Moving on to the interior, Hard plastics everywhere (can you say lots of rattles in about 10 years?), I was unimpressed by the monotone and very bland color choices of the interior. Bland gray. Another thing i did not like, the gauge cluster, There is no temperature gauge, i guess if your car begins to overheat GM thinks thats not a problem? Or maybe it will tell you in the DIC? The car had absolutely no idiot guages, like low fuel gauge for instance. The seats we’re rather unsupportive aswell. Im a tall guy so naturally i had the seat all the way back, it was quite accomodating, but left anyone if the rear seat with no legroom what so ever. The only thing i was impressed by was how quiet it was, and the good fuel economy. 30Mpg mix in 40city/60Hwy mix. My 2002 Non-hybrid Civic averages 42 on the highway at 65mph, I’d like to see a Cobalt do that. Honda, Toyota and Nissan all have made great cars over the years and still do, so don’t blame us for buying quality cars. If you want to support the economy, by all means do it. If that means by subquality cars to do it, well thats all you. You’ll support the economy allright, not only by buying the car, but by all the major maintence you’ll have to have done on it down the road eg. Engine repairs and trasmission issues (expensive), So by all means, pump some money into our economy. I know i did back when i owned a Saturn, never again.
I think the argument of Japanese vs American cars is a toss up. I will agree that 10 – 20 years ago Japanese cars usually won out. However, I think the issue is more complex than what most people think. American cars are usually built heavier than Japanese cars hence part of the reason they have lower fuel economy. Also, domestics have bigger engines. I think it’s funny that Americans want better gas mileage but…most of the car talk on MSN and such revolves around crossovers, SUVs, and trucks, most of which won’t get 40 mpg in the city.
Another thing to note is that Japanese cars took off so well back in the 70s not just because of the oil crisis, but it was also because American cars at the time were so poorly built. Yes, some of your ‘classics’ may have had heavier frames and such, but most of your cars 20 years and older would maybe last 100,000 miles (160000 km) before they would fall apart or engines and transmissions blew out. There’s a reason why the large sedan/station wagon class has basically died out; these cars usually died out first, followed by vans and 4WD type vehicles. Nowadays, I’d have to say that the difference between domestic and Japanese cars is minimal. Comparing a Japanese car from the 80s or 90s to a new American car though is pointless. The American car will probably beat it.
american cars can not even keep up with their japanese counterparts. if american car companies want to stay up with the japanese they must first lose the union. the union ruins all hopes for progression in the american car industry. secondly the american workers must adapt the japanese style of working: complete focus on work and steadier hours. third, the push for power over fuel efficiency must change. i guarantee a honda civic is quicker off the line than any american car within its price range and the civic gets 10+ more mpg than those cars.
in the 1990s, when gas is cheap, GM and Ford focused on selling gas-guzzlers. They were just thinking of making money bcs the profit from these SUVs are huge. Because the trend was to drive SUVs. Toyota and Honda stuck to what they do best: making small, fuel-efficient cars. They don’t care when the trend is driving SUVs or not. They just did what they believe they can do best. When GM bought Hummer, Toyota started research on Prius. A few years later (which is now), when gas hit $4/gallon, we see who’s smarter….Toyota or GM??? Toyota looked forward. GM didn’t care for the future.
I know this is noted, but on that list there are THREE hybrid vehicles form the japanese, one from the AMerican brands. Of course it is going to constitute a much bigger percentage! That throws it way off! Number two problem is that they are comparing different kinds of vehicles. Fusion is bigger and designed differently than Matrix.
The media does not think. Let me explain a law of percentages and chance to you. If I drive a car once a week, there is always a chance of me getting in an accident, however, my chances GREATLY increase if I drive the car three times a week. My point? People say that Ford’s and GM’s break down more. The truth is they are MORE relable than japanese cars. The reason why people say that is because just 5 years ago, Ford ALONE controlled 26% of the entire car market, vs a 10% for Toyota. Which one has more chances to have errors and mistakes? Ford. Same rule applies to GM. I sell cars, I work at an autoplex, where we sell 6 brands of cars, japanese and american alike. There is no comparison between the two. American cars win.
To John,
Of course they cared about the future! They were making SUV’s because that is what WE ASKED FOR. Toyota and Honda make small engines because they SUCK at big ones. take for example the Honda Ridgeline for 2009. This vehicle has a V6 engine with 20 miles per gallon highway. Take that vs. the Ford F-150 2009. It uses a 5.4 V8 with TWICE the power and gets 21 MPG highway, oh by the way…it’s also the same price.
There is some skewed data in these figures. A Cobalt and Corolla actually achieve similar gas mileage for the least powerful engine model, the difference being that the Cobalt still beats the Corolla by about 30 horsepower… There’s a lot more wrong, but I’m not going to write out several paragraphs for explanation.
Oh well, I guess I will write a small explanation after reading a few of these posts, as it seems necessary.
In response to ‘Some reader’s’ comment about the Honda Civic: A 2009 Honda Civic Si Coupe (the sportier model with the more powerful engine) rated at 197hp @ 7,800 and 139ft-lbs @ 6,200 from a 2.0 liter engine achieves 21 city and 29 highway miles to the gallon and starts at $21,805. A Cobalt SS runs about $23,425, and with a current offer of $1,500 off, comes down to $21,925, or within $120 of the Civic. It has 260hp @ 5,300 and 260ft-lbs @ 2,000 and is rated at 22 city, 30 highway, from a 2.0 liter turbocharged engine. The Cobalt SS dominates the Civic in all performance aspects, including track performance (class record on the Nurburgring, way ahead of it’s competition), handling (0.9Gs on the skidpad), and acceleration (0-60mph in 5.5-5.7 seconds, varying on the source). Yeah, those Civics really are faster than any comparable car. *rolls eyes*
I’m from the UK and I do think that US citizens should support there US owned domestic built cars (the big 3 etc)
But I do think that the big 3 should also support the people by being at the forefront of modern domestic car technology.
It would be fantastic if a great nation like the USA could lead the revolution to Hydrogen fueled cars – then the whole of the western world would be less dependent on Arabia and Russia.
your findings are incorrect i am sad to inform you.
1. the ford escape hybrid is the most fuel efficient SUV on the planet. notice i said SUV. so we aren’t even comparing apples to apples here. The honda insight was a tiny car that was discontinued. why? because it was not very popular. The Ford F-150 was the most sold vehicle of 2008. a truck! sold more than any foreign car. what the public wants, the big 3 will produce.
2. the chevy aveo’s gas mileage is 27 city/ 34 hwy
3.the honda civic hybrid gets 40 city/ 45 hwy as according to the honda website.
4. the toyota prius gets 48 city/ 45 hwy. where you got 60/51, i have no clue for even fueleconomy.gov says 48/45.
5. the toyota matrix get 26 city/ 32 hwy as according to the toyota website.
6. The Pontiac G6 gets better gas mileage than the Honda Accord or the Toyota Camry, both of which were the company’s top sellers last year.
All im saying is that if you are going to present facts to the public, they need to be researched and correct, and be of equal comparison. Also take into account that the small, light weight cars that are terrible in crash tests are not always what the public wants, which is a safer car, which usually means sacraficing a little gas in the process.
Where the fuck did they get this info. Its all fake!!!!
ur not a patriot..ur a scumbag. u drive and import. ur not a true american. how are you being loyal to your country when your driving a jap job p.o.s…good luck in 10-20 years anyway when ur car is no longer there cuz it rusts the fuck out..why do u think u dont see any hondas or any jap job driving around from the 70′s?