My wife's work Ford Fiesta is apparently not economical enough - why?

My wife works using a petrol 2006 Ford Fiesta to make urgent deliveries of prescription drugs to local chemists. The firm uses this car for emergency deliveries of prescription drugs to local chemists, rather than a signwritten van, mainly to deter thefts by junkies. She was summoned to a meeting of the firms transport manager and told that her employers had used the services of a time and motion company, who claim to reduce the general running cost of most firms by cutting back on various expenses. In short she was told the Ford Fiesta was averaging just 28.9mpg, and this was far too poor a figure. Her firm expects her to get at least 50mpg. The Fiesta, is regularly serviced, and my wife does not thrash the car. Can you please help her? Should this Fiesta be getting 50 mpg?

Asked on 14 July 2012 by JA, Bristol

Answered by Honest John
They are probably using the wholly unrealistic EC combined figures to do their sums when what they should be doing is brim-to-brim fuel economy tests doing the same job that this Fiesta is doing. The Real Life Fuel Economy Register shows a national average of 39.2mpg. On stop-start delivery work, involving a lot of parking, 28.9mpg would be typical. Add to that the fact that Fiestas have an excellent reliability record, and that servicing and repairs are at reasonable Ford prices.
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