The average fuel economy for new vehicles sold in January reached 25.1 mpg for an increase of 0.2 mpg from December, according to the University of Michigan's Transportation Research Institute (UMTRI).

This increase likely reflects the month-to-month seasonal decrease in sales of pickup trucks and SUVs, according to UMTRI researchers Michael Sivak and Brandon Schoettle.

Fuel economy has fallen 0.7 mpg from the peak reached in August of 2014, but remains 5 mpg higher than October of 2007, when UMTRI began tracking the data.

The University of Michigan Eco-Driving Index (EDI) — an index that estimates the average monthly emissions of greenhouse gases generated by an individual U.S. driver — decreased to 0.82 in November, a 0.01 decline from the revised value for October. The lower the value, the better.

The value indicates that the average new-vehicle driver produced 18% less emissions in November than in October 2007, but 4% higher emissions than the record low reached in August of 2014.