The opposition leader is out today claiming that car prices are going rise under the new vehicle efficiency standards that are due to come into effect in July.

Every other advanced country except Russia has these kinds of standards, some of them for many decades. This means we have plenty of evidence about what their effect might be.

A US study of prices between 2003 and 2021 found “no systemic, statistically significant increase in inflation-adjusted vehicle prices across either vehicle classes or vehicle nameplates.” But it did find that over that same period average fuel economy improved by 30%.

So, no prices won’t increase. But yes, you will save money because new cars will use less fuel.