Autoblog

Hyundai Elantra subject of class-action lawsuit for 'misleading 40 MPG' ads

Jeremy Korzeniewski — Wed, 11 Jul 2012 10:16:00 EST

Filed under: Budget, Sedan, Government/Legal, Marketing/Advertising, Hyundai

'Your mileage may vary.'

We're all used to seeing those words at the end of any advertisement that mentions fuel economy, and we all know what it means: Not all drivers will get the same mileage, and oftentimes what you get will be lower than what it says on the car's window sticker.

That explanation may not hold water with Louis Bird of Sacramento, California, owner of a 2011 Hyundai Elantra.

"I feel like Hyundai took advantage of me. Hyundai's advertisements about the '40 MPG' gas mileage of the Elantra instantly caught my attention. I bought the car thinking I would be seeing major savings at the pump and getting over 500 miles per tank, but Hyundai fooled me... I have not saved any money on gas and have been driving the Elantra for well over a year now. It is frustrating and disappointing. I never would have bought the Elantra in the first place if I hadn't seen Hyundai's ads boasting about gas mileage."

Bird has filed a suit looking for class-action status in Sacramento County Superior Court. The lawsuit "seeks to stop Hyundai from illegally using gas mileage numbers in its advertising of the Elantra without government-mandated disclosures." Naturally, damages are being sought for California owners of 2011 and 2012 Elantra models. As you can see above, the 2013 Elantra is still advertised with a 40-mpg rating on the highway, a figure arrived at by the EPA and, as Hyundai points out in a press release, by independent sources like Popular Mechanics and Car and Driver.

From what we can tell, Consumer Watchdog, the organization is bringing the lawsuit, is alleging that Hyundai failed to "disclose certain information when mileage estimates [were] provided in their advertisements," thereby deceiving consumers into thinking the Elantra would provide better mileage than its competitors.

Scroll down for the press release from Consumer Watchdog and a response we received from the automaker. We've also included some video advertisements for the Elantra. So far, we've been unable to find any ads that don't include the expected industry-standard disclaimers about varying mileage and city versus highway fuel economy. For its part, Hyundai tells us it has "reviewed [its] ads and think Consumer Watchdog and their client are dead wrong."

Continue reading Hyundai Elantra subject of class-action lawsuit for 'misleading 40 MPG' ads

Hyundai Elantra subject of class-action lawsuit for 'misleading 40 MPG' ads originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 11 Jul 2012 10:16:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Did Hyundai pull MPG claims from Super Bowl ad due to watchdog group pressure? [w/video]

Zach Bowman — Sun, 05 Feb 2012 11:31:00 EST

Filed under: Budget, Sedan, Etc., Government/Legal, Marketing/Advertising, Hyundai

Hyundai has been targeted by Consumer Watchdog, a non-profit advocacy organization, over the automaker's 40 mpg fuel efficiency claim on the Hyundai Elantra. The group says Elantra owners have seen fuel economy averages of 18 and 19 mpg instead of the the 29 mpg city and 40 mpg highway reported by Hyundai and the Environmental Protection Agency. As such, the group has sent letters to both Hyundai CEO John Krafcik and President Eok Jo Kim warning that if the automaker advertised the 40 mpg claim in the company's Super Bowl spots, Consumer Watchdog would release a retaliatory video of its own. The group has since followed through with that threat.

The Elantra spot scheduled to run during tonight's game, "Victory Lap," makes no mention of fuel economy whatsoever, focusing instead on the sedan's winning the 2012 North American Car of the Year award. When Hyundai previewed its first three Super Bowl spots on January 30, the automaker's official announcement indicated that this was the intent all along:

Finally, to round out the game-day lineup, Hyundai will celebrate its 2012 North American Car of the Year victory for Elantra with a new 30-second spot called "Victory Lap." The Elantra earned the prestigious award from a jury of 50 independent automotive media in early January.

Earlier today, we erroneously stated in this post that the ad running this evening was changed to not reflect the fuel economy numbers. Hyundai emphatically denies that any changes were made along the way.

In an email to Autoblog, Jim Trainor, Hyundai's senior group manager for product public relations, writes:

We never removed a fuel economy claim from our Elantra Super Bowl spot. It is, and always was, a focus on the North American Car of the Year award bestowed on Elantra. No group "made us" change our commercial and no outside group is going to dictate to us what the content of our commercials will be. The commercial you will see today is exactly how we meant it and exactly what it has been from the start.

Click past the jump for a look at the Elantra Super Bowl spot, the Consumer Watchdog clip about the vehicle's mileage claims and a press release from the non-profit.

In a related note, Popular Mechanics just-published real-world fuel economy test of two cars boasting 40 mpg EPA highway ratings is a very timely and interesting read. PM's test subjects?The Ford Focus SFE and the Hyundai Elantra.

Ultimately, when you get past all the noise, it's important to remember that "your mileage may vary" is a mantra for a reason.

Continue reading Did Hyundai pull MPG claims from Super Bowl ad due to watchdog group pressure? [w/video]

Did Hyundai pull MPG claims from Super Bowl ad due to watchdog group pressure? [w/video] originally appeared on Autoblog on Sun, 05 Feb 2012 11:31:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Consumer group cries foul on Hyundai's 40-mpg claim

Jeff Sabatini — Fri, 02 Dec 2011 13:00:00 EST

Filed under: Sedan, Government/Legal, Recalls, Hyundai

Right when it looks like Hyundai can do no wrong, we have this: A consumer protection group is asking the United States Environmental Protection Agency to look into claims that the Elantra has exaggerated fuel economy numbers.

Consumer Watchdog sent the EPA a letter citing a litany of public criticism of the compact Elantra's real-world fuel economy, and asking the EPA to "re-test the 2011 and 2012 Elantra models in its own facility, to seek an explanation for the MPG disappointments of so many Elantra buyers."

Except that many Elantra buyers are actually satisfied with their mileage. When we asked Hyundai for a response to the allegations, its public relations staff pointed us to a J.D. Power APEAL study showing that, "Elantra owners are the happiest in the entire compact segment competitive set in terms of fuel economy."

Hyundai did note that real-world fuel economy results often differ from EPA label values, but stopped short of writing the whole thing off as "your mileage may vary." According to Hyundai, when Consumer Reports put the Elantra through its tough city cycle test regimen, the results were consistent with other compact cars, all of which underperformed compared to the EPA test. Hyundai said the Elantra achieved 20 mpg, which was higher than Honda Civic at 19, Ford Focus at 18, and Chevrolet Cruze at 17. "These results show rank-order consistency with the EPA results of Elantra (29), Civic (28), Focus (28), and Cruze (22)," said Hyundai.

The Elantra was redesigned for the 2011 model year, and when we tested one, we averaged 31 mpg over a week of mixed driving, compared to EPA numbers of 29/40/33 city/highway/combined. For 2012, Hyundai has actually added its ActiveECO system that it says can improve fuel economy by up to seven percent. Sales of the Elantra were up 44 percent in November.

Click past the jump to read the full press release.

Continue reading Consumer group cries foul on Hyundai's 40-mpg claim

Consumer group cries foul on Hyundai's 40-mpg claim originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 02 Dec 2011 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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