[Piwoslaw]

I wonder if average FE of new cars is a good reflection of trends? The average MPGs could be lowered if a lot of new more efficient cars were bought, but also if less new gas guzzlers hit the road. The difference is that in the latter case the overall amount of fuel used is lower. When the media start regularly telling us that global oil consumption has been declining for the last X months/years, then I'll be less sceptic.

Originally Posted by cleanspeed1

Have a question; why is it that when it comes to bringing the more fuel efficient cars, minivans, and trucks to the US market that the usual answer is that they don't meet the emission and crash standards? It doesn't make sense.

It's almost saying, " Europeans and those in the world markets have to have more polluting and less safe vehicles because of where they are. "

That's because US, Europe and Japan pay attention to different emissions - one prefers lower CO2 but doesn't care about NOx and PM, another vice versa.

Originally Posted by groar

European have obsession about CO2 and diesel have always got the privilege to pollute more... Things seams to change and half a dozen French cities declared to ban old cars (not Euro 2 ie before 10/1997) from their roads before the end of 2011...

Cities restricting use of polluting cars