Rating change squeezes carmaker
Mitsubishi Motors Corp., which sees the success of its new Lancer sedan as critical to reversing a dramatic slump in its U.S. sales, already faces a handicap as it prepares to launch the compact car in March.
Competing in a segment in which gas mileage usually figures prominently in buyers’ decisions, the 2008 Lancer will be the first vehicle to be rated under tough new federal fuel economy standards scheduled to be announced today.
Acting at the urging of consumer groups, politicians and even some automakers, the federal Environmental Protection Agency has redesigned its test program for determining average fuel economy. These are the gas mileage figures cited in most automobile advertising and that many shoppers rely upon as an important comparison tool.
The current system, in effect since 1986, has become notoriously inaccurate as autos and driving patterns have changed.
A recent study by Edmunds.com, a Santa Monica-based online automotive information provider, found that, on average, drivers get about 14% lower fuel economy than the EPA numbers promise.
The new system is expected to erase that difference by using more stop-and-go driving, heavy acceleration and high-speed driving in computing fuel economy for city and highway driving cycles.
But the rules to be announced today will be applied only to 2008 and later models: 2007 models will continue to be rated under the current system.
That’s where Mitsubishi and a few other automakers will suffer. Its 2008 Lancer -- there won’t be an ’07 model -- will have to compete with 2007 model compacts from other manufacturers. Shoppers who consider fuel economy will see a car that once was a leader in that field suddenly fall behind.
The ’06 Lancer delivers EPA-rated fuel economy of as much as 27 miles per gallon in city driving and 34 mpg on the highway. Mitsubishi’s best estimates for the ’08 model have it delivering 21 mpg in the city and 29 on the highway, a difference of 22% in city driving and 15% on the open road.
The ’08 model does use a new engine that produces considerably more power, 152 horsepower versus 120 in the ’06. But Mitsubishi engineers say the new all-aluminum engine also is lighter and more fuel efficient than the present design and would achieve close to the same mileage as the ’06 engine if rated under the same standards.
Mitsubishi won’t be the only automaker to deliver an ’08 model to market next year. All 2008 Honda models will be introduced during 2007, although most will come much later in the year. Others launching at least one ’08 model next year include Audi, BMW, DaimlerChrysler, Ford Motor Co., General Motors Corp., Toyota Motor Corp., Subaru and Volkswagen.
“One thing that’s been valuable about the EPA numbers, even though they’re not very accurate, is that they are not accurate by the same degree for everyone,” said Phillip Reed, consumer affairs editor for Edmunds.com. “That no longer will be the case next year, when there will be 2006, 2007 and 2008 models all competing.”
Automakers have been working with regulators all year to try to figure out how to handle the disparity between current EPA mileage figures and those for the ’08 models, said Sage Marie, a spokesman for the Torrance-based U.S. arm of Honda Motor Co.
“We don’t have a final plan yet,” said Moe Durand, a spokesman for Mitsubishi Motors North America in Cypress. “But it most likely will involve a dual sticker at the dealership that shows the ’08 EPA figures and what they would have been under the present system.”
Posting the lower ’08 fuel economy numbers on the Lancer while competitors such as Honda’s Civic are using the current test’s more lenient numbers for the ’07 model is likely to have a negative effect on sales.
“We know it’s not going to help,” Durand said. Still, he said, the present system “is hideously flawed, so change was needed. And a year from now, when all the 2008s are out, it’s a moot point.”
Edmunds, a source of mileage ratings for many who do their comparison shopping online before ever stepping into a dealership, hasn’t determined how it will handle the disparities. But Reed says the company will do something to let buyers know they are “looking at apples and oranges” when comparing EPA figures for ’08 models with those for ’06 and ’07 vehicles.
*
