GM Becomes First American Car Co. to Sell 1M 30 MPG+ Cars In 1 Year

General Motors says it became the first U.S. automaker to sell more than 1 million vehicles that achieve 30 MPG or more in EPA testing in its home market in 2012. (Image courtesy General Motors.)

Among the proverbial gigaton of 2012 sales data that flooded through my inbox this week: General Motors says it became the first U.S. automaker to sell more than 1 million vehicles that are rated at 30 MPG or more by the EPA in 2012.

In a press release, GM said the 1 million sales were in the U.S. market only and represented the fruits of powertrain investments and engineering work done on GM’s recently refreshed small car lineup. GM North America President Mark Reuss said it this way:

“Our investments in advanced powertrains are clearly paying off, and our smaller vehicles are resonating with customers. In 2013, we’ll introduce new diesel, eAssist and plug-in vehicles in the United States and expand the availability of turbocharged four-cylinder engines. This will give us the most technologically diverse range of fuel-efficient cars and crossovers in the industry.”

The General offered some interesting stats, including a full list of its models that achieve more than 30 MPG according to EPA testing. Again quoting the release:

1. Chevrolet Spark – up to 38 MPG
2. Chevrolet Sonic – up to 40 MPG
3. Chevrolet Cruze – up to 42 MPG
4. Chevrolet Volt – up to 98 MPGe
5. Chevrolet Malibu – up to 37 MPG
6. Chevrolet Impala – up to 30 MPG
7. Chevrolet Camaro – up to 30 MPG
8. Chevrolet Equinox – up to 32 MPG
9. Buick Verano – up to 32 MPG
10. Buick Regal – up to 36 MPG
11. Buick LaCrosse – up to 36 MPG
12. GMC Terrain – up to 32 MPG
13. Cadillac ATS – up to 33 MPG

Now, there are surely some of those that would be contested by owners (go ahead and Google “real world MPG Chevrolet Equinox” for many stories of falling short of EPA numbers. We’ll wait.) But the overall lineup does speak to the fact that GM has made a concerted effort to make fuel economy a priority in segments where it previously lagged is competitors.

Other interesting tidbits of information in the release:

• Four Chevrolet cars – the Spark, Cruze, Sonic and Volt – achieve 30 mpg or better in EPA combined city and highway driving, not just on the highway number.
• About 40 percent of GM’s vehicles by sales volume are powered by fuel-efficient four-cylinder engines – 10 percentage points higher than in 2010.
• Stick-shift fans take note: GM’s two highest fuel-economy four-cylinder models are the 42-mpg Chevrolet Cruze Eco and the 40-mpg Chevrolet Sonic, both of which are powered by a turbocharged 1.4L ECOTEC engine mated to a six-speed manual transmission.
• Chevrolet and Buick dealers delivered more than 50,000 vehicles that use advanced lithium-ion battery technology. Chevrolet Volt sales totaled more than 23,000 units, making the car the country’s best-selling plug-in vehicle.
• In 2013, Buick will launch the 33-mpg Buick Encore crossover, Cadillac will introduce the ELR extended-range electric vehicle and Chevrolet will expand availability of eAssist to include the all-new Impala.
• Chevrolet will also introduce a 2.0-liter clean diesel powertrain for the Chevrolet Cruze and a full-electric powertrain for the Spark.
• By 2017, GM will have up to 500,000 vehicles on the road with some form of electrification, with a focus on plug-in technology.