What is everybody's obsession with fuel economy? My car gets 1 L/100 more than yours! Congrats on you $280 annual savings. I could coax 8.6 per hundred out of my 3 but end up around 10 per hundred. I love the sound of motor being whipped a bit, along with the associated thrust. Hand me the keys to your Civic, Elantra etc.. and they too will drink fuel at 9.5 or worse.
People buying $20k cars tend to be cost concious, thats why we are looking at Civics and 3s and not Merc Cs and BMW 3s I suspect, so all those fill ups add up, as does the cost of annual rust treatments if you want to do that. I look for the best combination of total cost of ownership and driving experience that I can fit 2 adults and 2 kids into.
But there is also this thing called "The Environment", you might have heard of it 
Better fuel economy means less impact upon our natural resources, thats also a factor for some buyers. Sadly not many of them are North Americans so the future will likely be grim anyway:(
While I understand that people are cost conscious, there appears to be too much weight placed on fuel economy. People are arguing over a litre per hundred which amounts to $280 a year. If that amount is overly significant, then a used vehicle would make much more sense. When buying new, your biggest expense is depreciation, which barely gets mentioned.
Oh yes, the environment. While I do have a heavy foot I am sure my footprint is smaller than most. My commute is only 5 Kms, live in modest, energy efficient house and it's been 4 years since boarding a plane for vacation. Hell, I may even ride my bike to work in the summer.
