Gas Mileage / Benzinverbrauch

A couple days ago, I saw this ad in the newspaper and set it aside because I knew it was worthy of comment. Then, coincidentally, I read that President Obama has asked the US Department of Transportation to act on legislation passed a while ago that provides new guidelines for auto manufacturers to develop cars with better gas mileage. The order sets 2020 as a deadline date with an average fuel economy of 35 miles per gallon. But do car manufacturers really need twelve years to come up with something that already exists?

Like our French-made Citroën, the Spanish-made Seat is not available in the United States. We did the math, and the cars in this ad get the following gas mileage:
The Ibiza = 63.5 miles per gallon
The Leon = 52.2 miles per gallon
The Alhambra = 39.2 miles per gallon
These aren't hybrid vehicles. They're simply fuel efficient vehicles. And that is standard here in Europe.

So why don't we already have cars like this in America? I don't have an answer. We've (half jokingly) talked about buying out the lease on our Citroën and shipping it home when we're finished here. The Citroën C3 averages 47 miles per gallon, and so maybe we need to think about bring it home more seriously. It would be a shame to have to wait a dozen years to buy another car like it!