Toyota and GM Dominate List for Combined Fuel Economy, Industry Ratings

Toyota and GM have seven vehicles each named in Total Car Score’s list of the 2012 vehicle models that offer the best combined fuel economy and overall industry ratings. The car with the highest overall score was Toyota’s Camry Hybrid.

Total Car Score said that consumers would not be shocked to see seven Toyotas on the list of 20 top vehicles, but called GM’s strong showing “more surprising” for consumers. GM’s Chevrolet Sonic, Cruze, Equinox and Silverado, along with the GMC Terrain and the LaCrosse and Enclave from GM brand Buick, all made the list.

The rankings listed the top two cars in each of 10 vehicle classes. “Twinned” vehicles – those that are the same vehicle but with different badges, such as the Chevy Equinox and GMC Terrain – are listed together, taking up only one spot on the list.

Toyota vehicles on the list were the Prius, Camry Hybrid, Avalon, Matrix, Sienna Highlander and Highlander Hybrid.

Toyota dominates the mid-size sedans and wagons category. The top two cars in that class were the 50 mpg Toyota Prius with a Total Car Score of 79.3, and the Toyota Camry hybrid with a mpg of 41 and a TCS of 85.59.

The Prius and the Camry were ranked four and 10 respectively on The American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy’s recently-released Greenest Vehicles of 2012 list. The Honda Civic Natural Gas was knocked off the top spot, a position it had held for 8 years, by the electric Mitsubishi i-MIEV.

The complete list of Total Car Score winners is as follows:

Economy Cars – Segment Average Total Car Score 72.95
Ford Fiesta – MPG 33, TCS 77.07
Chevrolet Sonic – MPG 33, TCS 74.61

Compact Sedans and Wagons – Segment Average Total Car Score 74.68
Volkswagen Golf – MPG 34, TCS 79.63
Chevrolet Cruze – MPG 33, TCS 77.77

Midsize Sedans and Wagons – Segment Average Total Car Score 78.73
Toyota Prius – MPG 50, TCS 79.30
Toyota Camry Hybrid MPG 41, TCS 85.59

Large Sedans and Wagons – Segment Average Total Car Score 79.40
Buick LaCrosse/LaCrosse Hybrid – MPG 23/29, TCS 83.93/84.86
Toyota Avalon – MPG 23, TCS 82.27

Sport Coupes and Convertibles – Segment Average Total Car Score 74.93
Mini Cooper – MPG 32, TCS 77.71
Honda CR-Z – MPG 37, TCS 75.75

Compact SUVs and Crossovers – Segment AverageTotal Car Score 71.84
Mini Cooper Countryman – MPG 30, TCS 75.29
Toyota Matrix – MPG 29, TCS 74.89

Midsize SUVs and Crossovers – Segment Average Total Car Score 73.76
Chevrolet Equinox/GMC Terrain – MPG 26/26, TCS 78.21/74.60
Kia Sorento – MPG 25, TCS 77.43

Large SUVs and Crossovers – Segment AverageTotal Car Score 80.28
Toyota Highlander/Highlander Hybrid – MPG 22/28, TCS 82.51/84.42
Buick Enclave – MPG 19, TCS 82.26

Minivans – Segment Average Total Car Score 76.60
Honda Odyssey – MPG 22, TCS 80.84
Toyota Sienna – MPG 21, TCS 80.37

Large Trucks – Segment Average Total Car Score  74.32
Ford F-Series – MPG 19, TCS 82.72
Chevrolet Silverado – MPG 18, TCS 74.70