Empresas y finanzas

U.S. fuel efficiency for cars up for first time



    WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Obama administration on Friday imposed the first increase in fuel efficiency standards for passenger cars, requiring model year 2011 vehicles to average 30.2 miles per gallon.

    A copy of the fuel efficiency rule obtained by Reuters would require sport utilities, vans, and pickups -- the light truck class -- to achieve 24.1 mpg.

    The standard is estimated to save nearly 900 million gallons of fuel and to cost the industry $1.4 billion, the regulation said.

    Congress has required cars and light trucks to average 35 mpg by 2020, a 40 percent increase over today's standards.

    (Reporting by John Crawley. editing by Gerald E. McCormick)