Korean Automaker Aims to Boost Fuel Efficiency

VOA News
August 4, 2010 at 6:00 pm

South Korea’s leading automaker plans to increase the fuel efficiency of the vehicles it sells in the United States without relying on electric engines or fuel cell technology.

The president of Hyundai’s U.S. division said Wednesday that the company wants its fleet of new cars and trucks to average 4.7 liters per 100 kilometers by 2025.

John Krafcik told an auto industry conference Hyundai aims to increase fuel efficiency mainly by optimizing current gasoline-powered engines.

He said the company estimates only 15 to 20 percent of its new vehicle fleet would be powered by gasoline-electric engines, all electric engines or hydrogen fuel cells.

Hyundai already produces one of the most fuel efficient fleets of new cars in the United States.

Earlier this year, the U.S. government announced carmakers will have to increase the average fuel efficiency of their vehicles to 6.6 liters per 100 kilometers.

Bloomberg news reports that Hyundai, along with affiliate Kia Motors, increased their share of the U.S. car market to 8.5 percent in July. On Tuesday, Hyundai said July car sales in the U.S. jumped by 19 percent over July of last year.

Many automakers, including Toyota and Honda in Japan, and General Motors and Ford in the U.S., already sell so-called hybrid vehicles. These cars combine gasoline engines, powerful batteries and electric motors to achieve high fuel efficiency. Several of the companies are now racing to produce all-electric vehicles.

U.S. auto giant General Motors, Japanese automaker Nissan and Germany’s Daimler all hope to start selling all-electric cars later this year. Some information in this story was provided by Bloomberg and Reuters.