GM Promises To Make More Vehicles That Get 40 MPG By 2017

Eight General Motors models will get 40 mpg or higher by 2017, according to a GM press release regarding the 2012 Sustainability Report. The company plans on doubling the amount of vehicles that receive those ratings by 2017 along with other objectives including increasing the number of electrified vehicles out on the road and decreasing the amount of carbon dioxide emissions from its vehicles.
Dan Akerson, chairman and CEO of General Motors, says, “Our long-term approach to sustainability enables us to increase efficiency and reimagine personal mobility to best meet customer needs and lifestyles.”
The Detroit News reports that, “Automakers are under increasing pressure to meet U.S. corporate average fuel economy fleet standards of 35.5 mpg by model year 2016, and 54.5 mpg by model year 2025.”
Right now, the Chevrolet Cruze Eco, Cruze Clean Turbo Diesel, Sonic and Volt achieve 40 mpg or higher. Edmunds notes that “the soon-to-launch 2014 Spark EV and the upcoming Cadillac ELR also will handily top that benchmark freeway figure.”
Another objective in GM's 2012 Sustainability Report is to increase the amount of GM electrified vehicles in the United States. GM told The Detroit News that in 2012 it sold 179,801 vehicles powered somewhat by electricity and 48,108 in 2011.
In their press release, General Motors says it plans to “put 500,000 vehicles on the road in the U.S. with some form of electrification by 2017.” GM vehicles that currently have some form of electrification are the Chevrolet Volt, Chevrolet Spark EV, Buick LaCrosse with eAssist, Buick Regal with eAssist, Chevrolet Malibu with eAssist and Chevrolet Impala with eAssist.
By 2016, the company would like to reduce CO2 emissions in their U.S. vehicles by 15 percent. GM says “[It] bases its sustainability priorities on an assessment of the most pressing global economic, environmental and social issues facing the company’s customers and the communities where GM does business.” GM added that key stakeholders, internal and external, believed fuel efficiency, electrification and reducing CO2 emissions are some of the top areas of improvement for General Motors.