There is a difference in the gallons in the UK. The UK gallon is 4.546 liters and the US gallon is 3.79 Liters. Since a UK gallon is bigger, please do the math and tell us what’s the REAL MPG in the UK using US gallons because this is misleading.
I’ll give you something a little more practical. Subaru is introducing a small crossover this fall called the Crosstrek. The model was already introduced in Europe and Australia with a diesel engine that gets 50 mpg. (American) Only the gas model will be available in the US. Gets 37mpg.
78 mpg imperial= 65 mpg US gallon. Based on Imperial being 1.19 times bigger.
I suspect the issue is that the foreign car is a diesel, and diesel passenger cars were banned here a while back. Maybe I should read the article.
It’s approx 59 mpg, and my VW Jetta TDI doesn’t get that. I get about 42 but with diesel.
My guess is that it’s simply a smaller engine. My little 1 liter Geo Metro used to get 50+ back in about 1992 or so.
The problem is that they install an Imperial units gasoline tank here in the States. Just install one of those metric tanks and problem solved.
Simple jr high math tells us that a US gallon is about 20% less than a UK gallon. So subtract 20% from the UK mileage.