2016 Chevrolet Cruze will hit 42 mpg on the highway

According to fueleconomy.gov, when equipped with an automatic transmission, the 2016 Chevrolet Cruze sedan will achieve 30 mpg city and 42 mpg highway. The former figure represents a 7-percent improvement over the last generation, and the latter figure bests the competition by between 2 and 5 mpg.

Now, there are some asterisks. If you go with the six-speed manual transmission, fuel economy drops to 29 mpg city and 41 mpg highway. Opt for the top trim level, Premier, and those numbers sink to 30 mpg city and 40 mpg highway. So, not every Cruze will nail 42 mpg on the highway, but the majority of them should.

That brings the Cruze's total range to about 570 miles between fill-ups. Chevrolet is also releasing a Cruze hatchback, but I assume a heavier total mass will drop fuel economy a bit. If you really love being a fuel miser, though, you may want to wait until early 2017, when a new Cruze diesel will hit dealerships.