
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: WEDNESDAY, September 29, 1993                   TAG: 9309290054
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A-5   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: WASHINGTON                                LENGTH: Short

GEO METRO REPEATS AS MILEAGE CHAMP

For the fifth year, the 1994 subcompact Geo Metro XFi is the stingiest fuel burner on the road. Overall, automakers have made little gain in fuel economy since the mid-1980s, the Environmental Protection Agency says.

This year the EPA provided no overall average, a number that is weighted to include expected sales, but agency officials said the average is believed to be within a few percentage points of last year's average of 28.1 miles per gallon.

"The trend shows little or no [mileage] improvement," said EPA spokeswoman Martha Casey.

Automakers have achieved roughly the same overall mileage in new cars since 1987, when the EPA tests also showed a fleet average of 28.1 mpg. It dipped to 27.6 in 1992, the lowest over the last eight years, according to the EPA. Cars achieved on average about 14 mpg in the 1970s before the government imposed fuel economy requirements.

Only 47 of the more than 1,000 models tested had combined mileage of 30 miles per gallon or better.

by CNB