Edmunds.com Names Top 10 Most Fuel-Efficient Cars

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Average Fuel Economy is 19 Miles per Gallon in Cities, 26 on Highways; Average Annual Fuel Expense is $1,310 per Vehicle

SANTA MONICA, CALIF. - May 10, 2004 -Edmunds.com, the Internet's premier resource for automotive information, today announced the most fuel-efficient cars for the 2004 model year†.

They are:

1. Honda Insight
2. Toyota Prius *
3. Honda Civic Hybrid
4. Volkswagen Golf TDIVolkswagen Jetta TDIVolkswagen New Beetle TDI
5. Honda Civic HX
6. Toyota Echo
7. Toyota Corolla
8. Scion xA
9. Scion xB
10. Dodge NeonPontiac VibeToyota Celica GT *Toyota Matrix

"It is impressive that the most fuel-efficient vehicles enjoy nearly double the per-gallon mileage of the vehicles lower on the list," remarks Karl Brauer, Editor In Chief of Edmunds.com. "During city driving the Insight and Prius are rated at 60 miles to the gallon, while the vehicles tied for 10th place get 29."

To view the entire list and obtain additional information about the cars referenced, please visit http://www.edmunds.com/reviews/list/top10/101576/article.html.

Edmunds.com has also determined that the average fuel economy for 2004 model year vehicles is 19 miles per gallon (mpg) in city driving and 26 mpg on highways.

Additionally, Edmunds.com has found the average fuel expense is $1,310 per vehicle, assuming 15,000 miles are driven per year. On average, cars run up $1,178 in fuel expenses per year while trucks, SUVs and minivans average $1,606 annual fuel costs. The most fuel-efficient segment is coupes priced under $15,000, with an average fuel cost of $843 per year while the least fuel-efficient segment is SUVs priced over $45,000, with an average fuel cost of $1,956 per year. The most popular segments are the sedans priced between $15 - 25,000, with an average annual fuel cost of $1,013, and the large trucks, with an average annual fuel cost of $1,874. For details on fuel costs and other ownership expenses, check Edmunds.com's True Cost to Own^™ tool at http://www.edmunds.com/ownership.

Edmunds.com expects the market to change drastically in the next couple of years as more manufacturers introduce hybrid vehicles, including SUV and truck models. Awaited as 2005 models are hybrid versions of the Chevrolet Silverado, Dodge Ram, Ford Escape, GMC Sierra, Honda Accord, Lexus RX 400h and Toyota Highlander. Additional hybrid vehicles are in development for the 2006 and 2007 model years. Other fuel-saving technologies are also becoming more common, such as the cylinder deactivation systems recently introduced by GM and Chrysler.

For additional information about hybrid vehicles, please visit http://www.edmunds.com/advice/specialreports/articles/101677/article.html.

†Edmunds.com compiled the list based on the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) miles per gallon ratings for city and highway travel, using the EPA's combined fuel economy formula. No all-electric or natural gas vehicles were included. All ratings apply to base models equipped with a manual transmission, except where indicated otherwise with a single asterisk (*).

About Edmunds
Edmunds.com is the premier online resource for automotive information. Its comprehensive set of data, tools and services, including Edmunds.com True Market Value^® pricing, is generated by Edmunds Data Services and is licensed to third parties. For example, the company supplies over 800,000 pages of content for the auto sections of AOL and NYTimes.com, provides weekly data to Automotive News and delivers monthly data reports to Wall Street analysts. Edmunds.com was named "best car research" site by Forbes ASAP, has been selected by consumers as the "most useful Web site" according to every J.D. Power and Associates New Autoshopper.com Study^SM and was ranked first in the Survey of Car-Shopping Web Sites as reported by The Wall Street Journal. The company is headquartered in Santa Monica, Calif. and maintains a satellite office outside Detroit.