The two renowned auto makers of the world, Hyundai and Kia, have admitted that more than one-third of the vehicles sold by them have an overstated fuel economy.
The South Korea based automakers issued an apology and said that they would provide special debit cards to around a million owners in order to repay for the difference in the lower mileage delivered by the vehicles. The discrepancy in the fuel economy was found by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), which investigated into the matter after receiving complains from the consumers.
The companies blamed “procedural errors” for the overstated mileage. Talking about it, John Krafcik, CEO of Hyundai Motor America said, “Given the importance of fuel efficiency to all of us, we're extremely sorry about these errors. We're going to make this right for everyone."
The EPA said that the admission by the automakers was the largest case ever in which any automaker had highly increased the fuel economy of its cars.
The automakers will provide personalized debit cards to owners of the company's vehicles and the payment will be based as per the fuel price of the region where the owner resides and the distance they drive.
However, the formula adopted by the auto makers to make up for the difference in the mileage is not up to everyone's satisfaction. People have come up with complaints that the amount that would be provided through the debit card would be practically very little in comparison to the loss they have incurred.
The EPA said that the mileage ratings on the vehicle labels would be reduced by 1 to 2 miles per gallon for most of the cars from Hyundai and Kia. However, Kia Soul, would see the largest adjustment of 6 miles per gallon (mpg) which was listed at 34 mpg but now will come with a listing of 28 mpg.
The two sister automakers overstated fuel economy ratings of around 900,000 vehicles or a total of 35 per cent of the 2011-13 model sold so far.
The acknowledgement by the auto makers brought embarrassment for the sister South Korean auto makers. Though, the company has decided to replenish for the overstated fuel economy of the cars, this incident has clearly diminished their image and might affect the sales of their vehicles. However, only the future would tell if Hyundai and Kia manage to win the confidence of their trusted buyers.
