- Honda's model year 2024 lineup averages 31.0 real-world MPG, the best of any full-line gasoline/hybrid automaker, ahead of Hyundai (29.8), Kia (29.2), Toyota (29.0), and Nissan (29.0).
- Stellantis (Chrysler, Jeep, Ram, Dodge) and GM average the lowest among major automakers, 22.8 and 22.9 MPG, largely reflecting truck- and SUV-heavy lineups.
- BMW has made the largest 50-year gain of any manufacturer tracked: from 14.7 MPG in 1975 to 29.0 MPG in 2024, a 97% improvement, and preliminary 2025 data shows BMW overtaking Honda for the top spot.
- At 12,000 miles per year, the gap between Honda's and Stellantis's 2024 averages works out to about $464 per year in fuel cost.
01 Introduction
Every year, the EPA's Automotive Trends Report doesn't just track the overall new-vehicle fleet average, it also breaks the data down by manufacturer. That breakdown makes it possible to answer a more specific question than "how fuel-efficient are new cars": which automakers' lineups actually average the best real-world fuel economy, and how has that ranking changed over the 50 years the EPA has tracked it.
EPA, "The 2025 EPA Automotive Trends Report" (EPA-420-R-26-001), February 2026, manufacturer-level data export.The figures below are each manufacturer's production-weighted real-world (adjusted) combined MPG across its entire lineup for a given model year, not the MPG of any single model. A manufacturer that sells mostly small cars will naturally average higher than one that sells mostly trucks, so this reflects each automaker's product mix as much as its underlying engineering.
EPA, The 2025 Automotive Trends Report (EPA-420-R-26-001), manufacturer-level export, "Real-World MPG" column, Regulatory Class "All" / Vehicle Type "All" rows.02 The 2024 Ranking
Model year 2024 is the most recent complete year in the EPA's data (2025 is still preliminary, see Section 05). Among full-line gasoline and hybrid automakers, Honda ranks first at 31.0 MPG, followed closely by Hyundai (29.8), Kia (29.2), Toyota (29.0), Nissan (29.0), and BMW (29.0). Stellantis and GM rank lowest, at 22.8 and 22.9 MPG.
EPA, The 2025 Automotive Trends Report (EPA-420-R-26-001), manufacturer-level export, model year 2024.Tesla, which sells only electric vehicles, posts a combined rating of 117.1 MPGe for model year 2024. MPGe converts electricity use into a gasoline-equivalent figure, but it isn't measuring the same thing as a tailpipe MPG rating, so it's reported here separately rather than ranked alongside the gasoline and hybrid automakers above.
EPA, The 2025 Automotive Trends Report (EPA-420-R-26-001), manufacturer-level export, model year 2024, Tesla row.Production volume adds useful context. Toyota had the largest 2024 production share of any automaker in this data (17.2%) while still ranking among the more efficient brands (29.0 MPG); GM had the second-largest share (16.2%) while ranking near the bottom (22.9 MPG). Together the two account for roughly a third of the production covered by this dataset.
EPA, The 2025 Automotive Trends Report (EPA-420-R-26-001), manufacturer-level export, model year 2024, Production Share column.03 Fifty Years of Progress: 1975 to 2024
The EPA's manufacturer-level data goes back to model year 1975 for most automakers (Hyundai's U.S. data begins 1986, Kia's 1993, and Tesla's 2012, reflecting when each entered the market). Every manufacturer with a full 50-year history has improved, but by very different amounts.
EPA, The 2025 Automotive Trends Report (EPA-420-R-26-001), manufacturer-level export, model years 1975 and 2024.| Manufacturer | 1975 MPG | 2024 MPG | 50-Year Gain |
|---|---|---|---|
| Honda | 26.7 | 31.0 | +16.1% |
| Toyota | 18.4 | 29.0 | +57.8% |
| Nissan | 21.1 | 29.0 | +37.8% |
| BMW | 14.7 | 29.0 | +97.3% |
| Subaru | 22.5 | 28.7 | +27.6% |
| Mazda | 14.6 | 28.0 | +92.1% |
| VW | 22.6 | 26.5 | +17.3% |
| Mercedes | 14.7 | 26.1 | +77.6% |
| Ford | 11.5 | 23.4 | +104.0% |
| GM | 12.7 | 22.9 | +81.0% |
| Stellantis | 13.0 | 22.8 | +74.9% |
Two patterns stand out. BMW made the largest gain of any manufacturer, more than doubling its real-world fuel economy (+97.3%) to reach the same tier as Toyota, Nissan, and the Asian automakers by 2024, despite starting the lowest of any brand with a full 50-year history in 1975. Honda, by contrast, started far ahead of every other manufacturer in 1975 (26.7 MPG, a figure some brands didn't reach until decades later) and has still posted the smallest percentage gain (+16.1%), because it had the least room to improve.
Calculated from the table above.Estimate your own vehicle's driving cost using official EPA fuel economy data.
Use the Calculator04 What the Gap Costs You in Fuel
The gap between the most and least efficient full-line automakers' 2024 lineups has a real dollar cost. At 12,000 miles per year and $3.30 per gallon (the 2024 average of EIA weekly regular-grade retail prices), the difference between Honda's 31.0 MPG average and Stellantis's 22.8 MPG average works out to about $464 per year, and the gap between Honda and GM is about $452 per year.
Calculated: 12,000/31.04149 × $3.30 = $1,276; 12,000/22.75880 × $3.30 = $1,740; 12,000/22.91333 × $3.30 = $1,728. Differences: $1,740−$1,276=$464; $1,728−$1,276=$452. EIA regular-grade retail gasoline price, 2024 average of weekly prices ($3.304).| Manufacturer (MY 2024) | Real-World MPG | Annual Fuel Cost (12K mi, $3.30/gal) |
|---|---|---|
| Honda | 31.0 | $1,276 |
| GM | 22.9 | $1,728 |
| Stellantis | 22.8 | $1,740 |
This is the same dynamic covered in more depth in our fleet-wide MPG trends article: fuel economy differences translate directly into fuel cost differences, and the gap between individual manufacturers' lineups can be just as large as the gap between vehicle classes.
05 A Preliminary Look at 2025
The EPA's preliminary model year 2025 data (production figures aren't yet final, so this is subject to revision) shows a shift at the top: BMW rises to 31.1 MPG, narrowly overtaking Honda (29.6 MPG, still ahead of most other full-line automakers) for the highest average of any gasoline/hybrid manufacturer. Toyota (30.5) and Hyundai (30.4) also move ahead of Honda in this preliminary data. Stellantis remains the lowest at 22.8 MPG.
EPA, The 2025 Automotive Trends Report (EPA-420-R-26-001), manufacturer-level export, "Prelim. 2025" rows. Preliminary data; production shares are not yet available for this model year and the figures may be revised in a future edition.06 A Note on "Manufacturer"
The manufacturer groupings in this data reflect each automaker's current corporate structure, applied across the full 50-year series. Stellantis, formed in 2021 from the merger of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles and Groupe PSA, is reported as a single manufacturer back to 1975; in the U.S. market, those earlier-year figures are effectively its predecessor Chrysler's lineup (including Jeep, Dodge, and Ram), not a company called "Stellantis" that existed at the time. Similarly, "GM" and "Ford" reflect each company's full brand portfolio in a given year, which has changed over five decades (GM, for example, no longer sells Pontiac, Saturn, or Hummer). This is how the EPA itself reports the data; it isn't an adjustment made by this site.
EPA, The 2025 Automotive Trends Report (EPA-420-R-26-001), manufacturer-level export.07 Data Sources
- EPA: "The 2025 EPA Automotive Trends Report," EPA-420-R-26-001, February 2026, manufacturer-level data export (model years 1975–2024 final, preliminary 2025). epa.gov/automotive-trends
- EIA: Weekly Retail Gasoline and Diesel Prices (2024 average regular-grade price). eia.gov