The Most Fuel Efficient Automaker? It’s Mazda

Electric cars, hybrids, and plug-in hybrids have been plied by almost every automaker in a bid to hit the new mandatory fuel economy ratings laid in place by the U.S. government. So you’d think that a company like Toyota or Nissan, which have been at the forefront of electrificiation, would have the best average fleet fuel economy. Nope, turns out tiny Mazda is the most fuel-efficient automaker in America.

While Mazda has one of the smallest car lineups in America, with just 12 different models to offer, the small, independent automaker has also focused most of its efforts on improving the internal combustion engine. Mazda’s perky-yet-efficient SkyActiv-G gasoline engines have been met with near-universal praise, and my time behind the wheel proved that Mazda’s could be both fun and miserly, if not exactly luxurious.

The average fuel economy of Mazda’s vehicles was 27.5 MPG, and the next-closest competitor was Honda at 27 MPG, with Volkswagen and Subaru tied at 26.2 MPG. Meanwhile Toyota, with its 50 MPG Prius and a while line of Prius spin off vehicles, came in with an average of 25.2 MPG, just behind Nissan and its all-electric Leaf at 25.3 MPG.

With a turbodiesel-powered Mazda 6 to U.S. shores soon, while the Mazda 6 with the i-Eloop supercapacitor system is capable of 40 MPG highway, Mazda is making due without the fancy hybrids other automakers rely on. While there is talk of a hybrid Mazda 3, the company best known for “Zoom zoom” has also managed to become the most fuel frugal too. If any company embrace Gas2’s ideals of making fun cars fast, efficient, and green, it’s Mazda.

 Source: Hybrid Cars