Yes. Rules and Consumer Protection are far tougher in the USA, where the Toluca-assembled Fiat 500 isn't selling very well despite having sold more than 100,000 in the UK. The problem is that European annual car tax is based on CO2 emissions, so anything done that makes official fuel economy more realistic will put up motoring taxes. That's why we're happy to provide the totally independent 'real life fuel economy register' at www.honestjohn.co.uk/real mpg.

Here, drivers can find out the truth without getting taxed on it. My Fiat 500 1.2 averages about 46mpg in the winter and about 54mpg in the summer, which is actually quite close to the official EDC figure, measured in summer temperatures of 20–30 degrees centigrade.