Consumer reports revealed that only three out of 200 cars reached the official claimed mpg figure as car manufacturers are being accused of misleading customers
A report by an independent consumer company “Which?” has accused auto manufacturers of misleading their consumers by falsely representing their vehicles as fuel efficient, when they are not. Because of their overstated fuel-economy figures, consumers could be spending £133 per year extra on fuel.
You will be amazed to find that only three out of 200 cars tested from the years 2013 and 2014 made it to their claimed fuel-economy and these are:
1. Skoda Roomster 1.2-litre, manual, five door
2. Mazda 3 Fastback 2.0-litre
3. Skoda Yeti automatic 2.0-litre diesel, five door
The most shocking part was when all major auto makers fell short by an average of 13 per cent. The worst performer from all of them was the Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV hybrid with an average fuel-economy of 67mpg, the official figure claimed was 148mph. If we do simple maths it means the consumer has to pay more than £841 annually in fuel costs, which is more than double.
When “Which?” carried out these tests, it turned off all the ancillary loads to attain maximum efficiency, even the heated windows, air conditioning and lights were turned off. That’s not all, door mirrors, extra lights and roof rails can also be removed making the car even lighter. Despite the immense pressure from the auto industry to postpone the change until 2020, “Which?” has called the European Commission for the introduction of their new testing procedures to be introduced in two years.
Richard Lloyd is the executive director of “Which?” and he stated that cost incurred by fuel is one of the biggest concerns of any car owner and auto makers are exploiting it as a selling point.
But, unfortunately they are misleading consumers by propagating fantasy mpg figures never intended to be true.
Top 10 worst performers in the fuel-economy test are:
1. Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV 2014
2. Volvo V60 Plug-In Hybrid 2012
3. Jeep Grand Cherokee
4. BMW X4 2014
5. BMW 4 Series Grand Coupe 2014
6. Toyota Yaris Hybrid 2012
7. Vauxhall Corsa 2006-2014
8. Alfa Romeo Giulietta 2010-
9. Nissan Qashqai 2014-
10. Peugeot 208 2012-