Brand recognition and fuel efficiency are two major factors people consider when purchasing new vehicles. Regardless of short-term fluctuations in gas prices, a car's fuel economy impacts the day-to-day costs of going with a particular model.

The automakers are incentivized to build efficient cars too. President Barack Obama announced new fuel efficiency standards back in 2012, instating a brand minimum average of 54.5 combined miles per gallon by 2025.

With this in mind, which brands are well on their way toward achieving this goal? AxleGeeks ranked the biggest brands based on average fuel efficiency.

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#15. Nissan

Nissan's cars get an average fuel economy of 24.5 mpg. When compared to Japanese non-luxury brands, this falls short of the average 27.5 mpg. If you're shopping for an efficient Nissan, your best bet is with a sedan or coupe, which offer better fuel economy relative to competitors.

#14. Acura

Acura is the only luxury brand to make the list, as its vehicle lineup earns on average 25 combined miles per gallon. A big reason for this is the advancements Acura has made, including its intelligent valve control system, which helps its engines operate at high performance standards while keeping efficiency high, as well.

#13. Toyota

Toyota, as a brand, is known for its fuel-efficient vehicles and good reliability. With its lineup averaging 26.5 miles per gallon, it falls low on the list compared to competitors like Honda. However, Toyota does have pick-ups in its lineup, and they've improved their full efficiency to a degree recently.

A good illustration is the Toyota Camry, which went from 22 city miles per gallon with its 2010 model to 25 city mpg in 2016.

#12. Hyundai

Hyundai vehicles average 27 combined miles per gallon, giving the manufacturer an advantage over other brands like Toyota. Hyundai strives to make some of its vehicles more efficient by equipping them with four-cylinder engines and responsive six-speed automatic transmissions.

#11. Mitsubishi

What makes Mitsubishi distinctive is that, though its vehicle lineup is small, all vehicles but its Lancer Evolution model earn at least 30 mpg or more on the highway. With that said, its vehicles haven’t seen a substantial increase in efficiency as of late.

For example, its 2005 Lancer Model earned 34 highway mpg; its 2016 model delivers 35 highway mpg. While both outputs are impressive, it illustrates Mitsubishi has a ways to go to meet coming efficiency mandates.

#10. Kia

Kia’s lineup also earns a combined 27 miles per gallon. What aids Kia’s vehicles in delivering efficiency is its Gasoline Direct Injection engine. This engine works by injecting pressurized fuel into cylinders as the engine goes through its combustion cycle, resulting in increased efficiency and lower emissions.

#9. Scion

Scion embraces efficiency through the design of its vehicles. Its 2016 iA model features an aerodynamic body to reduce wind resistance, resulting in a sedan that averages 37 combined mpg.

#8. Volkswagen

The German manufacturer’s lineup earns a combined 28 miles per gallon, making its offerings more efficient than BMW's.

Helping its average are multiple hybrid models and the e-Golf, an affordable electric car starting under $30,000.

#7. MINI

Its combined fuel efficiency of 28 mpg for its lineup is impressive, considering it makes MINI’s automobiles more efficient than Hyundai and Toyota. MINI continues to tinker with improvements, but hasn't changed much when it comes to its most popular model, the MINI Cooper. The 2005 MINI Cooper earned 36 highway mpg, while its 2016 counterpart earns 39 highway mpg.

#6. Subaru

Subaru continues to be a good brand due to its vehicle reliability. Subaru’s Boxer Engine is a big reason for its improved efficiency, offering a horizontal design. This positioning allows the engine to easily transfer power to the drivetrain, resulting in increased efficiency.

#5. Honda

Honda is a brand that's well-known for its dependability, and its efficiency isn’t too shabby either. With its vehicle lineup earning 29.25 miles per gallon, it makes Honda more efficient than many of its competitors. Moreover, Honda has made rapid gains in improving its models’ efficiency, as the 2008 Honda Civic earned 34 highway miles per gallon and the 2016 Civic delivers 42 highway mpg.

#4. Mazda

Mazda continues to be one of the best car brands due to its exceptional fuel efficiency. As an illustration, it has three models that earn an EPA-estimated 40 mpg or more on the highway, which is remarkable and more in line with the coming mandate standards. It also makes its lineup more efficient than both Toyota and Honda.

#3. FIAT

Known for its distinctive Italian styling, Fiat also delivers efficient vehicles. Its lineup, though small, earns on average 31 combined mpg. Each of its gasoline engine vehicles deliver at least 33 highway mpg or more while its electric offering — the 2015 Fiat 500e — has an exceptional equivalent efficiency of 122 city mpg.

#2. Smart

Don’t let the size of its vehicles fool you, Smart engineered these impressive models with Mercedes Benz. Smart’s models excel in performance and efficiency, delivering a combined 35.5 mpg on average, making them excellent commuter cars.

#1. Tesla

Tesla embodies the future of automobile engineering. While certainly on the more expensive end of the spectrum — its Model S begins at $59,500 after tax savings — Tesla vehicles deliver great performance with their electric motors. This also represents significant fuel savings for you, as according to Tesla, you could save an estimated $8,000 in fuel charges over five years of use. Tesla cars get the equivalent of 94 mpg.

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As the access for mobile technology continues to rise in demand, car manufacturers are eager to meet this need. Now, it's common to see even the basic models come with an array of tech offerings, like Bluetooth capability. All told, many companies have gone even further to provide vehicles with mobile command centers where you can do everything from answering calls to accessing traffic and navigation information through voice command or by the push of a button.

One of the best ways to view the tech feature landscape is to examine it at the brand-level, where you can compare how a manufacturer’s offerings relate to others in its class. To assist you in this regard, AxleGeeks examined the tech offerings of each brand to identity the ones that offer more tech features across the board.

Furthermore, AxleGeeks developed a Smart Rating for each brand based on data compiled from many sources including the American Customer Satisfaction Index Score, the JD Power APEAL Study, the KBB Resale Value Award and the JD Power Initial Quality Study.

From these results, here’s a look at the car brands with the best tech offerings.

#15. Volkswagen

Volkswagen is a brand known for its quality in safety performance and fuel efficiency, but it offers a fair number of tech offerings as well. It equips 19.2 percent of its models with blind-spot monitoring whereas the average German brand offers this feature in 13.3 percent of its lineup.

#14. Lexus

This luxury Japanese brand offers a wealth of impressive tech offerings that work to make your drives safer. It equips more of its vehicles with a heads-up display (7.5 percent) than other Japanese luxury brands average (4.7 percent).

#13. Chevrolet

Chevy received a better Smart Rating — at 87 — than some of its American competitors, like Ford, which earned an 82 rating. Part of the reason for this is Chevy's abundance of features.

As an illustration, 27.5 percent of its models come equipped with the lane-departure warning feature, topping the average of 24.5 percent per lineup for non-luxury American brands.

#12. Cadillac

The American luxury manufacturer scores well in quality across the board by housing more tech equipment in its vehicles. One feature where it has a sizable advantage on its competition is in heads-up display capability, where it equips 10.5 percent of its models with this feature. In comparison, the average percentage per lineup for all American luxury brands is 6.1 percent.

#11. Audi

Audi is a brand known for its quality design and excellent safety offerings. At the same time, this luxury manufacturer doesn’t disappoint in its tech offerings either, as 40.4 percent of its vehicles come with a navigation system. Meanwhile, the average per lineup for all German luxury brands that is 33.6 percent for navigation.

#10. Toyota

A bit of a mixed bag, 30 percent of Toyota's vehicles come with Bluetooth capability, which is significantly less than the average for non-luxury Japanese brands, who equip 56 percent of their models with this feature.

At the same time, Toyota equips more of its vehicles with heads-up display (2.5 percent) than its non-luxury Japanese counterparts average (0.7 percent).

#9. Kia

This Korean manufacturer is generous with the amount of tech equipment it offers across its lineup. Kia equips 61.9 percent of its models with a navigation system, while its non-luxury competitors average 52.9 percent per lineup, allowing Kia to hold a slight edge in this regard.

#8. Scion

Part of Scion’s allure are its contemporary designs and ample tech offerings. As an example, 87.5 percent of Scion’s vehicles come with Bluetooth capability. Meanwhile, the average for all Japanese non-luxury brand lineups is 56 percent.

#7. Lincoln

Lincoln does a good job topping its American luxury brand counterparts in basic tech offerings like navigation systems offered per model. It equips 33.3 percent of its models with this feature, earning it an advantage over its competitors of 6 percent.

#6. Volvo

Volvo is an outstanding brand across the board; it’s no wonder why it earned a Smart Rating of 94. Aiding it are outstanding tech features offered throughout its lineup. It equips 50 percent of its models with blind-spot monitoring, whereas the average for all luxury brands is merely 16.9 percent.

#5. Hyundai

This Korean manufacturer scores well because of the wealth of tech offerings it has across its vehicle lineup. It equips 46.4 percent of its vehicles with Bluetooth capability, giving it a slight edge over other Korean non-luxury brands, where the average per lineup is 44.9 percent.

#4. Infiniti

Infiniti is an established brand known for its luxurious styling and exceptional tech features. As part of this, 61.5 percent of its models come equipped with a navigation system, earning it a huge advantage over its Japanese luxury brand counterparts, who average 32.8 percent for this feature.

#3. Mazda

Mazda continues to be a higher quality non-luxury brand because it offers exceptional performance, safety and tech features. For example, 50 percent of its models come with lane-departure warning whereas 20.1 percent do among Japanese non-luxury brands.

#2. Acura

Acura is among the highest rated luxury brands available due to its unrivaled safety performance and tech features. As an illustration of its quality offerings, every model in its lineup earned awards from Motor Trend Magazine in 2015.

#1. Buick

This American non-luxury brand has upped its game big time. Along with a fresh look across its vehicle lineup, it also houses some great tech features to appeal to the younger buyer. It equips 8.3 percent of its models with a heads-up display. In comparison, other American non-luxury brands equip only 2.5 percent of their models with this feature.

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