Hyundai Motor Co. and Kia Motors Corp. will pay $41.2 million to 33 states and the District of Columbia to settle an investigation of the automakers’ “2012 restatement of fuel economy ratings and related advertising.”
Both South Korea-based automakers have their North American subsidiaries in Orange County—Fountain Valley-based Hyundai Motor America and Kia Motors America Inc. in Irvine.
The agreement contains no admission of wrongdoing or violations of law. Hyundai and Kia in November 2012 voluntarily adjusted fuel economy ratings for approximately a quarter of their 2011-13 model year vehicles, “reducing their combined city/highway fuel economy by 1-2 miles per gallon.”
The money will fund states’ consumer-protection claims and cover their investigative costs, according to Hyundai. The largest share of the settlement funds, more than $3 million, went to California, according to Attorney General Kamala Harris.
“Hyundai recognizes that fuel economy is a consideration in many car-buying decisions, and remains committed to being responsive to customer concerns about our revised fuel economy ratings,” Hyundai Motor America President and Chief Executive David Zuchowski said in a statement.
The settlement comes atop the $300 million the automakers paid in 2014 after a two-year-long probe by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Justice Department—$100 million in civil fines and $200 million in forfeited regulatory credits.
