Honda Executive Admonishes Inaccurate MPG Claims
American Honda executive vice president John Mendel had harsh words today for automakers that overstate fuel economy ratings.
“Aggressive fuel-economy claims that turned out to be not so accurate puts pressure on all of us,” he said today at the Automotive News World Congress. “Competitive pressure should never let us betray the trust of our customers.”
Last year, Hyundai and Kia were found to have embellished fuel economy numbers by as much as 6 mpg for the Kia Soul while most models were overstated by one or two miles-per-gallon.
“Something that happens to one of us affects public trust in all of us,” Mendel said, but didn’t name specific automakers.
SEE ALSO: U.S. Hybrid MPG Estimates Might be Revised Soon: Ford Says
Meanwhile, Ford is falling under criticism from Consumer Reports for both its C-Max and Fusion hybrids not living up to their EPA-estimated city mileage. The automaker attributes the alleged disparities to the EPA’s mileage tests for hybrid vehicles, which it says can stand to lose mileage from factors that wouldn’t necessarily affect traditional gas-powered cars.
In the aftermath of the scandal, Hyundai is offering its more than 1 million jilted customers gas cards for the life of the vehicle.
[Source: Automotive News]
Luke is an energetic automotive journalist who spends his time covering industry news and crawling the internet for the latest breaking story. When he isn't in the office, Luke can be found obsessively browsing used car listings, drinking scotch at his favorite bar and dreaming of what to drive next, though the list grows a lot faster than his bank account. He's always on <A title="@lukevandezande on Twitter" href="http://twitter.com/lukevandezande">Twitter</A> looking for a good car conversation. Find Luke on <A title="@lukevandezande on Twitter" href="http://twitter.com/lukevandezande">Twitter</A> and <A title="Luke on Google+" href="http://plus.google.com/112531385961538774338?rel=author">Google+</A>.
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