Hyundai And Kia To Settle Largest Fine Ever, Charged For Violating Clean Air Act
The mileage on several Hyundai and Kia models was overstated by at least a mile per gallon. This error will cost the Korean automakers $700 million in settlements.
According to Reuters, the Korean automakers will pay $350 million in penalties to the U.S. government for overstating fuel economy ratings in what officials said on Monday was the biggest settlement of its kind.
The deal comes on top of $395 million the automakers agreed to pay last December to resolve claims from the owners of the vehicles, bringing the companies’ total cost for the mileage overstatements to more than $700 million.
Monday’s settlement with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the U.S. Department of Justice and the California Air Resources Board resolves an investigation of the South Korean carmakers’ 2012 fuel economy ratings.
In a related Inquisitr story it, was reported that Hyundai has been faced with several safety probes since 2008.
This time around both Hyundai and Kia have been accused of exaggerating the fuel efficiency of 1.2 million vehicles, according to the BBC.
The New York Times has reported that the settlement is the largest-ever penalty for a violation of the Clean Air Act and is part of a broader, more aggressive enforcement effort by federal regulators on the auto industry. Analysts said it was meant to send a clear message to automakers that they would be harshly treated for compromising federal rules.
The announcement of the penalty was made by Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. and Gina McCarthy, the E.P.A. administrator.
Speaking at a joint press conference at the Department of Justice, Eric Holder made it very clear that the Obama administration would be taking a tough stance against violators of the regulations.
“This type of conduct quite simply will not be tolerated. The Justice Department will never rest or waver in our determination to take action against any company that engages in such activities…Any company that misrepresents the performance of their test vehicles risks harming human health and the environment, either by causing more pollution than the law allows, or, as happened in this case, by claiming greenhouse gas emission credits they did not earn”
Under the agreement, the automakers will pay $100 million in fines and forfeit an estimated $200 million in greenhouse-gas emissions credits, which auto companies earn by building vehicles with lower emissions than are required by law. The E.P.A. said the fuel efficiency standards reported by Hyundai and Kia were off by one to six miles per gallon.
[Image Credit: Evan Vucci/Associated Press]
