In China, producers usually inform consumers only of the much lower constant-speed fuel economy of their cars a theoretical fuel efficiency level hard to achieve under actual driving conditions.

Consequently, the gap between the fuel economy data the NDRC and carmakers provide has invited fierce criticism from domestic media against the latter.

However, it is misleading to take the NDRC's new fuel economy list as proof of carmakers' dishonesty.

Failing to tell consumers the whole truth about their products is certainly not a desirable way to do business. But as long as the country's law does not make it compulsory to give all the fuel economy numbers collected from different tests, carmakers can choose to give consumers the performance data that most helps their sales.

The significance of the authorities' first attempt to publicize car fuel economy levels lies not in exposing the promotional gimmicks of carmakers, but in awakening the public to the country's average low fuel efficiency.

As illusions about the high fuel efficiency of their cars are replaced with a better grasp of actual fuel consumption, consumers may at least tighten their purse strings before buying a car. When fuel prices keep rising, it will only be at consumers' cost to ignore the difference between the theoretical fuel economy according to carmakers, and the actual fuel consumption of their cars.

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