WASHINGTON -- Better technology and Americans' demand for more efficient cars and trucks will drive the average fuel economy of new vehicles to the highest level ever, according to a federal estimate.
Automakers and environmentalists hailed the projected increase for 2007 model year vehicles as a sign of progress toward reducing U.S. demand for foreign oil. But the news could cause automakers some trouble by providing new backing to supporters of tougher federal fuel economy standards under debate in Washington.
The report "shows that automakers' claims that consumers don't want higher fuel economy is false," said David Friedman, director of the clean vehicles program with the Union of Concerned Scientists.
"It's clear consumers are feeling pressure of higher gas prices, global warming and oil insecurity, and making do with the choices they have."
Based on sales estimates from automakers, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration calculated that 2007 models, including both cars and light trucks, would average 26.4 miles per gallon, surpassing the previous peak of 26.2 in 1987. The increase of 1 mile per gallon, or 3.9 percent, from the 2006 models follows two years of no change in the fleet average.
NHTSA says the average fuel economy of cars is expected to rise by 1.2 to 31 mpg, and the light truck average is expected to rise by 0.7 to 22.9. Among cars, domestically built models are expected to increase their fuel economy by 0.4 to 30.5 mpg, and imported cars are expected to post the largest gain of 1.2 mpg to 31.7 mpg.
The numbers exclude the largest models and could be revised once automakers and NHTSA collect actual sales data of 2007 models. But an increase of 1 mile per gallon could translate to fuel savings in the hundreds of millions of gallons. U.S. drivers burn 385 million gallons of gasoline a day.
"This is a terrific illustration of the progress that the industry has made in providing consumers with more fuel efficient automobiles," said Charles Territo, a spokesman for the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers, the trade group that includes Gen-eral Motors Corp., Ford Motor Co., Chrysler LLC and Toyota Motor Corp.
All three Detroit automakers are estimated to have improved their performance over the previous year. The former DaimlerChrysler has the largest increase, boosting its domestic car average by nearly 3 mpg to 28.6 mpg, thanks mostly to new models such as the Dodge Caliber, and its truck average by 1.1 to 22.8.
Ford's truck average is ex-pected to rise by 1.1 mpg to 22.2, and its domestic car average by 0.6 to 28.8 mpg GM's car and truck models are expected to rise less than 1 mpg to 29.6 for domestic cars and 22.5 for trucks.
