I'm getting similar mileage on my Rebel, but I disagree with the thought that getting better mileage is laughable. The technology is there, but the manufacturers and government don't want us to do better. From the gov't perspective, if all of our vehicles got better mileage, they would lose out on the per gallon gas tax. I find it laughable that my '87 Camaro was rated at 16/25 and the new Camaros are also rated at 16/25, but 35 years later. My 2006 Silverado Z71 got 14.5mpg. It had a leveled front end, off road tires, 4 speed trans, 3.45 gears and was a full steel bodied truck. The 2018 F150 I had weighed less than my Silverado, had many aluminum panels, had the 10 speed trans, 3.55 gears and auto start/stop. All of this was supposed to provide better mileage, but I got 14.5mpg. So 12 years later and better tech, less weight and I got the same mileage?
Years ago I spoke to a miner from West Virginia. He said they used Hummers to pull bins out of the mines. All of the Hummers were getting 9mpg. They received a new one and it was getting close to 30mpg. As a GM and Ford service center, they dug into the engine to see what was different. They found a sealed black box under the hood with no labels or numbers. They called GM to ask what it was as that was the only thing different on their fleet of Hummers. Within days, GM showed up onsite, asked to see the Hummer, and removed the box. GM said they weren't supposed to get that truck. That Hummer got 9mpg like the rest after that.
The tech is there, but there are powers greater than us keeping the mileage at lower levels. What the reason is, is unknown to me, but with cell phone tech, TVs, Internet/network bandwidth and all the tech IN our vehicles, you really believe they can't get better mileage out of them?