Hyundai Fuel Fiasco: Whose Shoe Will Drop Next?
“Who’s next?” This is the number one topic at the Los Angeles auto show. After Hyundai had to restate its MPG numbers and pay compensation to customers, executives and analysts are convinced that more automakers may have to do the same, reports the well-connected Reuters reporter Bernie Woodall from the back-rooms and cocktail parties in LA.
“I think we might see more of this,” said Jake Fisher, the head of automotive testing at Consumer Reports. “There are other vehicles that don’t really stack up to the EPA estimates.”
Auto executives at Nissan, GM , Toyota, Honda, Mazda, and Chrysler, told Woodall they are confident that their mileage claims are true.
So what do you guess? Who’s next?
Bertel Schmitt comes back to journalism after taking a 35 year break in advertising and marketing. He ran and owned advertising agencies in Duesseldorf, Germany, and New York City. Volkswagen A.G. was Bertel's most important corporate account. Schmitt's advertising and marketing career touched many corners of the industry with a special focus on automotive products and services. Since 2004, he lives in Japan and China with his wife <a href="http://www.tomokoandbertel.com"> Tomoko </a>. Bertel Schmitt is a founding board member of the <a href="http://www.offshoresuperseries.com"> Offshore Super Series </a>, an American offshore powerboat racing organization. He is co-owner of the racing team Typhoon.
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Just get rid of the whole system and let people read Consumer Reports or whatever.
I was going to say Ford but then I realized that they actually have economy trim levels, which clearly exist solely for marketing purposes. Since everyone does this with mystery trims for base prices and doesn't get sued I can't get too riled up about it. Hyundai was clearly fudging their numbers, and to such an extent that someone internally should have asked "how the hell are these claims possible?" I bet if you perused their ad agencies emails you'd find plenty of questions along those lines, at least amongst the product dept. Interesting to see BMW nominated above. I don't doubt it, I just never even look at stated mileage for premium brands (if you need to ask...).
Personally, I would like to see the plot of mpg vs steady-state speed. Of course, that's not the whole story (but that requires more esoteric details like fuel conversion efficiency as a function of engine speed & load + gear ratios).
The EPA estimates for my 2012 Impala LTZ is 18 city, 30 hwy. I don't recall combined mpg, but I average between 26.5 - 28 combined, even if most of my driving is highway. I suppose those 3.6L 300 horses require more "feeding" than my old 2004 Impala with the 3.4L, but truth be told, as we sold our third vehicle, which I used for in-town driving, the last time I filled the '04 before we sold it, my mpg avg. dropped to about 28.5 vs. 31-32 mpg. We haven't taken a road trip in the 2012 yet, so I don't know what the true hwy. mileage will be. Overall, GM's estimates appear pretty accurate, but I drive with a fairly light foot, as my long commute eats dollars and I'm not happy about that because I hate wasting my money on gas due to the fact I'm cheap! I love the car, however out-dated it may be, but it's what I wanted, so I pay the "penalty". I'm sure my next ride will have some sort of hybrid/cold fusion-type propulsion.