Hyundai Lawsuit: The Company Responds

Jul 18, 2012 11:46 AM EDT | Staff Reporter

Hyundai has responded to the lawsuit that alleges that it misleads consumers regarding gas mileage on the Hyundai Elantra.

As earlier reported by Auto World News, the California-based advocacy group Consumer Watchdog joined with at least one Elantra driver in a class action lawsuit. The plaintiffs allege that the compact sedan gets nowhere near the 40 mpg claimed in Hyundai's advertising.

An Elantra driver joining with the group in the lawsuit said, "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."

Motor Trend came to similar conclusions about the Elantra's fuel economy, finding that the EPA was overly generous in its combined rating for the Elantra of 33 mpg (29, city, 40 highway). The magazine found that the car was too sensitive to driving conditions to consistently live up to its rating.

Hyundai, however, is standing by its product. In a statement to Autoweek, the car company said: "Hyundai Motor America believes this case has no merit, as our advertising is accurate and in full compliance with applicable laws and regulations. In fact, we've reviewed our ads and think Consumer Watchdog and their client are dead wrong."

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