Fuel consumption in some Hyundai, KIAS overvalued

Paul A. Eisenstein, the Detroit Bureau
The two major Korean automobile manufacturers in the United States active realised that exaggerated the fuel consumption of vehicles such as the Hyundai Elantra and Kia Sorrento of less than six miles per gallon delivered.

Discovered while the environmental protection agency, Government now faces sanctions the makers, could add a routine monitoring of up to millions of dollars in fines. You have promised to refund money to the purchasers, but also face could the same complaints, with affected the other makers are to promote inaccurate mileage or performance numbers.

"Consumer confidence on the window sticker to help, informed decisions about the cars that they buy," said Gina McCarthy, Assistant Administrator of the EPA air quality Office. "EPA investigation help consumers and level playing field between the automakers protect to ensure."

The audit was triggered by a dozen complaints by the Agency the Federal fuel economy rules monitored. The driver said that it gave up a large gap between the mileage ratings their vehicles known as Monroney sticker and what they actually provided in real use shown.

Office of the Agency in Ann Arbor, Michigan, where mileage test is performed, led EPA results with the paperwork, to compare, written by Hyundai and Kia.

A total of 900,000 sold in the United States could, according to the EPA, be affected, led the 13 different models. These include seven different Hyundai: Elantra, Sonata hybrid, accent, Azera, Genesis, Tucson, bike service and Santa Fe models. Six different KIAS were influenced: soul, Sportage, Kia Sorrento, Rio and Optima hybrid.

The manufacturers claim that it their internal testing procedures changed in 2010, leading to the problem. They claim that vehicles, before produced then not their mileage would have adapted.

Most of the models numbers were from one to two miles per gallon have overvalued, but funky KIA soul his claims by a full 6 mpg to adjust.

"We are very sad about these errors," said Hyundai Motor America CEO John Krafcik, add, "we went to make this right."

Meanwhile excused Michael Sprague, the head of marketing for Kia Motors America, also pointed out that both decision makers is customer to reimburse the difference in fuel economy numbers.

The news comes as a major embarrassment for both manufacturers. Mileage has become last month - an industrial battlefield with gas prices nudge record levels several times this year - and briefly exceeding records in California. Hyundai and Kia have aggressively their efforts to improve the mileage, with many of its models leading their segments - supports at least until now.

It is not uncommon for vehicles to deliver mileage, which varies from the EPO test. The Government uses a test cycle which should reflect real-world conditions, but on the road, such things as height, road conditions and driver can have a big impact behavior. The Agency occasionally fit his tests as it did a few years ago, to make the results for hybrid vehicles consistent with real results.

But it is rare for automakers, mileage on their stickers Monroney oversubscribed. It has happened only twice since 2000, according to the EPA.

Hyundai and Kia executives say that they plan to exhibit new window stickers in a few days.

They plan also owners, based on how much they drive, calculation, that are against the cost of fuel and add 15 percent of the total to reimburse. A driver in Florida, the watches of 15,000 miles per year, could get a debit card, for example, $88. And Hyundai and Kia will continue to pay, as long as they have the vehicles for drivers.

In view of 900,000 vehicles affected by the news the first payment could add up to $10 million and finally reach in the hundreds of millions.

The EPA has yet not to disclose, that Hyundai and KIA paid the fines. Measures to take if she feel that intentionally mileage overvalued the Koreans claims in their advertising could another government authority, the Federal Trade Commission.

The impact to the makers reputation remains to be seen, but they might additional legal challenges confronted, as have some other manufacturers who have confirmed, to confuse numbers.

Mazda settled with consumers, after it admitted that the PS ratings the RX-8 sports car fell short. And Honda settled a class-action lawsuit over the driving performance of early Civic hybrid models. The manufacturer fought and a high-profile challenge in small claims court, but won.