There used to be a time when car makers bragged about how many high-performance cars they have sold. But in this day and age, that is kind of negative publicity. Instead they have to boast the number of fuel efficient cars they’ve delivered. So a round of applause please for GM, who sold its 1 millionth vehicle with 30+ MPG rating.

Thanks to a serious down-sizing strategy and implementing fuel-saving technologies across the range for all their brands, General Motors has significantly reduced its average fuel consumption and therefore emissions in recent years. About 40 percent of GM’s vehicles by sales volume are powered by fuel-efficient four-cylinder engines – 10 percentage points higher than in 2010.

There is also an emphasize on producing more compact and mini cars that are naturally economical. For the bigger models, GM relies on technologies such as eAssist to pick up the slack. Combined sales of the Chevrolet Malibu, Buick Regal and Buick LaCrosse powered by eAssist, which delivers EPA-estimated highway fuel economy of up to 37 mpg, totaled more than 30,000 units.

EPA rating for GM’s most popular models: