Talk Back Tuesday: Which Automaker Leads in Fuel
Efficiency Surprise!

If I see or hear one more ad that only lists highway milage I'm going to dump a barrel of oil in the offending automaker's lobby.

The fuel mileage claims being touted by every vehicle manufacturer have threatened to redefine the term "false advertising." It's frustrating because, technically, the claims aren't false, they just aren't true -- if you know know what I mean.

For instance, when automaker ABC claims they have XX models that get over 30 mpg is that highway mileage or mixed mileage? And does every version of a model get over 30 mpg, or just one version (maybe even one version they rarely stock at dealerships)?

To inject some semblance of reality into this fantasy land I asked the crack Edmunds.com data department for a simple calculation: What percentage of each automaker's product line-up can get 30 mpg or better in mixed driving?

Because some 2009 models aren't out yet we decided to use the 2008 model year as our starting point. And to qualify as a "model that gets 30 mpg or better" only one version of the model had to attain that mpg. Here's what we found:

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