John Mendel, American Honda executive vice president, had harsh words to say about automakers that overstate fuel economy ratings on Wednesday, January 16th.
“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.”
Hyundai and Kia just last year 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.
Consumer Reports are now criticizing Ford for both its C-Max and Fusion hybrids not living up to their EPA-estimated city mileage. Ford attributes the alleged disparities to the EPA’s mileage tests for hybrid vehicles, which can stand to lost mileage from factors that wouldn’t necessarily affect traditional gas-powered cars.
As a result of the scandal, Hyundai is offering its more than 1 million jilted customers gas cards for the life of the vehicle.