Hyundai Settles MPG-Related Lawsuits

Hyundai reportedly agrees to settle 38 class-action lawsuits brought by U.S. owners of its vehicles who allege the Korean auto maker knowingly misstated some models’ fuel economy.

Last fall, Hyundai said it had overstated mileage on a half-dozen of its ’11-’13 models, or more than 1 million vehicles in total sold in the U.S. and Canada.

Included in the restatements was the Hyundai Elantra compact sedan, which saw its widely touted 40-mpg (5.8 L/100-km) highway fuel-economy rating lowered to 38 mpg (6.1 L/100 km).

A Los Angeles federal court filing yesterday has Hyundai agreeing in principle to terms of a settlement with owners, Bloomberg reports.

Hyundai sister brand Kia, which also restated the fuel economy of many of its ’11-’13 vehicles, still is pondering whether to join the settlement, the wire service says.

Hyundai reportedly will give owners the option of an unspecified lump-sum payment, while other reports say a voucher that is worth double the amount of the cash settlement will be available toward the purchase of a new Hyundai vehicle.

Hyundai and Kia blamed testing errors for the fuel-economy restatements. The two brands last year developed a debit-card program to reimburse owners of affected vehicles for the fuel they would have saved had their cars achieved the previously-stated fuel economy.

Both brands have been mum since November on debit-card redemption and the fuel-economy restatements.

Hyundai, who has not made U.S. CEO John Krafcik available for one-on-one media interviews since the scandal broke, said at November’s Los Angeles auto show that 350,000 inquiries had been made to a website it set up to issue the debit cards.

In January, the auto makers’ Korean parent said it would cost $400 million to reimburse owners of vehicles that had fuel economy restated.

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