Hyundai Announces Fuel Efficiency Tactics

Hyundai Blue Drive

Hyundai recently announced that they intend to achieve an average fuel economy of 35mpg until 2015 instead of 2020. This action will provide the Korean manufacturer with a great advantage over the competition and this action can aid its sales on the American continent.

"Hyundai aims to be the most fuel-efficient automaker on the planet," said John Krafcik, vice president, Product Development and Strategic Planning, Hyundai Motor America.

"We're aligning our global R&D resources in Michigan, California, Nam Yang, and Frankfurt to develop the Blue Drive technologies we need to achieve our goal – a 35 mpg U.S. fleet average by 2015."

Their plan to reduce fuel consumption is called Blue Drive and they will start it by launching “Blue” editions of existing models. More to the point, the Accent and Elantra will have better fuel economy and lower prices than the standard models and in the following year the Sonata will debut with a hybrid engine along with a lithium-polymer battery.

The next generation Theta II 2.4 L will feature an oil pump and power steering that reduce friction throughout the engine.

A few months ago, Hyundai presented a concept called the HED-5 with a turbocharged 2.0 liter engine with direct injection and a power output of 286 HP (GTDI). The same engine also equipped the Kia Koup at the New York Auto Show and preceded Kia's and Hyundai's intention to introduce downsize engines on a range of vehicles in the next few years.