YES. I know the Honda Civic I had built in 1998 was not nearly as a good of a car, reliability wise, as my 1993 Honda Accord. I have a 2004 Nissan Frontier truck that I dislike more than about any other vehicle I own, terrible fuel mileage for it’s class, underpowered, etc.
I don’t know about VW, but I would say Ford is trend setting right now.
I’ve been looking for a high MPG car for my long commute. I started with the Ford Focus but if I were to pull the trigger today it would be for a Kia Rio.