The Most Fuel Efficient Cars of 2009

Although gas prices have retreated considerably since peaking above $4 per gallon over the summer, consumers who are in the market for a new vehicle are still putting a high importance on choosing cars that deliver exceptional fuel economy. The retreat from big SUVs, pickup trucks, and other large vehicles has been historic with demand for certain smaller cars outstripping supply.

Each year the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) publishes information about every vehicle sold in the US to include city, highway, and combined driving fuel economy. Up until recently, those figures were considered to be inflated, but over the past few years the EPA has taken great strides to make certain that fuel economy numbers parallel real world driving conditions. If the EPA says that a car can get 40 mpg, you should be able to realize that number under optimum driving conditions.

The Most Fuel Efficient Cars For 2009

For the 2009 model year, the EPA has released its Top Ten list of most fuel efficient cars. The list is evenly split between hybrids and gas or electric models, with top honors going to the Toyota Prius:

1. Toyota Prius (hybrid) — 48/45

2. Honda Civic Hybrid — 40/45

3. Nissan Altima Hybrid — 35/33

4. Ford Escape Hybrid FWD; Mazda Tribute Hybrid 2WD; Mercury Mariner Hybrid FWD — 34/31

5. Smart ForTwo convertible; Smart ForTwo coupe — 33/41

6. Toyota Camry Hybrid — 33/34

7. Volkswagen Jetta (manual, diesel); Volkswagen Jetta SportWagen (manual, diesel) — 30/41

8. Volkswagen Jetta (automatic, diesel); Volkswagen Jetta SportWagen (automatic, diesel) — 29/40

9. Toyota Yaris (manual) — 29/36

10. Toyota Yaris (automatic) – 29/35

The Worst of the Lot

Now that you know the most fuel efficient vehicles available, can you guess which model finished dead last? If you said the Lamborghini Murcielago with its 6.5L V12 engine, then you guessed correctly. The Italian sportscar gulps gas to the tune of delivering just 8 mpg city and 13 mpg highway finishing just ahead of the Bentley Arnage RL which gets 9 mpg city/15 mpg highway thanks to its 6.7L V12 powerplant.

To find the fuel economy of a vehicle that interests you and to make side by side comparisons with other cars, trucks, vans, crossovers, and SUVs, visit the EPA website to plug in that information.

Is Ford Itching To Sell Mazda?

Not too many global automotive relationships have lasted as long as the Ford Motor Company’s relationship with Mazda Corporation has. Since the early days of the 1970s, Ford and Mazda have collaborated on a number of projects starting off with Mazda supplying Ford with its first compact pickup truck, the Ford Courier, which eventually gave way to Ford building its owns small truck, the Ranger.

The Ford Ranger is the Mazda B-Series

In an amazing twist of events, the Ford Ranger is now sold as the B-Series in the US. In addition, the Ford Escape, Mercury Mariner, and Mazda Tribute are essentially the same and the platform that underpins Ford’s midsize models which includes the Ford Fusion, is the same platform which drives the Mazda6.

Now, word is coming forth that Ford wants to sell its 33.4% stake in Mazda in a bid to raise cash. Ford, like General Motors and Chrysler, has been battered throughout the year by double digit sales decreases and a need to raise cash to fund new product development. At the beginning of the year, Ford had enough money on hand to weather the current crisis, but with the financial markets being especially tough, the company is bleeding through cash at a record pace.

Unraveling Mazda From the Ford Web

Selling Mazda just a year ago would have been unthinkable, given the intertwining of the brands. Though Mazda is a separate company, they pretty much operate as a Ford subsidiary especially in North America.  Selling off Mazda could take years to untangle a very complicated relationship, then again the buyer may find that keeping its relationship with Ford intact could be in everyone’s best interest.

Other Alliances Shaping Up For Ford?

Ford seems determined to go it alone even as the global automotive crisis deepens. Quite frankly, there is too much capacity and too many brand names, with automakers trying to maintain market share as demand drops. Likely, the current economic mess is only temporarily, suggesting that by 2010 things will once again turn around, but in the meantime waiting it out could prove disastrous for financially strapped automakers.

General Motors has discussed merging with Ford (as it has with Chrysler) and idea that Ford is cool too. Both companies collaborated on a project to build six speed automatic transmissions and there is plenty of room for the two companies to work together on additional projects. If Ford had the cash, they’d probably make a pitch for Chrysler, if only to salvage the valuable Jeep brand. Perhaps tossing Mazda would help Ford do just that, but methinks that selling Mazda is a big mistake.

Ford management is denying that a Mazda sale is being considered, calling such reports speculative and distracting.  At the same time, the company says that Mazda and Ford’s operations are separate despite jointly developing several vehicle lines. What that sounds like is that Ford is leaving all options on the table.