Hyundai Fuel Economy Lawsuit: Your Mileage May Vary

Sacramento, CAThere is little doubt, in this age of diminishing resources, tight money and a still-anemic economy that fuel consumption is a major factor when Americans are on the hunt for their next vehicle. Knowing this, automakers fall all over themselves trumpeting their fuel consumption in a bid to convince you to buy their product over someone else's, and competition is fierce. Little wonder then that car buyers are incensed over news that Hyundai overstated the fuel economy in many of their vehicles.

KIA, too. In fact, KIA and Hyundai??"described by the Los Angeles Times (11/3/12) as 'corporate siblings'??"have found themselves devising a fuel rebate program that will continue for as long as the affected vehicle owner drives the car.

It is not known if the rebate program is transferrable to a subsequent owner, given that the primary owner was the one who made the purchase under allegedly false pretenses. What has been announced, is that any owner affected at one time by incorrect KIA EPA estimates but having since sold their vehicle, will be reimbursed based on the time they owned their vehicle, and driving it under false pretenses of better fuel economy than they were actually getting.

A Hyundai class action lawsuit has been filed in Sacramento Superior Court in California, and is currently seeking class action status. That lawsuit alleges false advertising and false claims made in promotion of Hyundai's Elantra compact sedan. The Elantra is only one of several models across both brands, impacted by the disclosure.

Hyundai fuel-economy estimates, and in fact estimates attached to other vehicle brands, are based on guidelines established by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). For its part, the EPA does double back and conduct random tests on various brands each year, representing about 15 percent of models annually. However, the tests are primarily self-regulated.

Jamie Court, president of Consumer Watchdog, which is a co-filer of the Hyundai class action lawsuit over Elantra advertising, said carmakers cannot be relied upon to conduct their own testing, "even with the strict procedures the EPA has in place," he said in comments published in the LA Times. "The automaker has a vested interest in reaching a certain number as part of a marketing strategy. One or two digits on a window sticker can make a big difference in sales."

The Hyundai class action lawsuit??"in fact, the entire issue over fuel economy ratings??"was triggered from consumer complaints over the Elantra sedan. The EPA, in response, tested the 2012 model and "observed discrepancies."

Together, it was reported, the two automakers overstated fuel economy ratings for approximately 900,000 vehicles. That represents about 35 percent of vehicles sold through the 2011 through 2013 model year.

Hyundai and KIA, both headquartered in Korea, blamed the gaffe on "procedural errors" at a test center located in South Korea jointly operated by the two brands. "Given the importance of fuel efficiency to all of us, we're extremely sorry about these errors," said John Krafcik, chief executive of Hyundai Motor Company of America, in a published statement. "We're going to make this right for everyone."

What they're doing is offering debit cards that can be recharged by the corporation on an ongoing basis, designed to make up the difference in dollars represented by the testing errors. Fuel economy ratings on the affected vehicles will also be adjusted to reflect actual fuel consumption, according to the EPA. Mileage ratings on the vehicle labels will be reduced by 1 to 2 miles per gallon (mpg) for most affected vehicles, with the largest adjustment of 6 mpg for the automatic KIA Soul, which was listed at 34 mpg highway but will now have a 28 mpg highway rating. Both automakers will place new labels reflecting the corrected mileage estimates on cars currently at dealers.

Hyundai is also intent on asking that the proposed class action lawsuit be dismissed. A hearing is scheduled for December 10. For his part, Court told the LA Times the corporation's admission of error is a vindication for consumers wronged by the error, regardless of whether it is found to be intentional or not. "We are going to get to the bottom of whether the company rigged these tests, and if so, it owes people a lot of money," Court said.

In commenting on the issue to the LA Times, Elantra owner Howard George, a retiree from Huntington Beach, said he otherwise loves his 2012 Elantra. However…

"My mileage ... is not even close to what they claimed," George said of the Hyundai fuel economy estimates. "The debit card would be bupkis??"practically nothing."

The affected models are as follows…

Hyundai: Accent 2012-13, Azera 2012-13, Elantra 2011-13, Genesis 2012-13, Santa Fe Sport 2013, Sonata Hybrid 2011-12, Tucson 2012-13, Veloster 2012-13, Veloster Turbo

KIA: Optima Hybrid 2011-12, Rio 2012-13, Sorento 2012-13, Soul 2012-13, Sportage 2012-13