When Hyundai launched its “4 x 40” campaign in December, the automaker’s goal was simple: It wanted to have four vehicles on sale in the U.S. in 2011 that could achieve at least 40 mpg. And while reaching that mark won’t occur until the all-new Veloster debuts this fall—joining the Elantra, Sonata Hybrid and Accent in Hyundai’s 40-mpg club—the company already has notched a notable fuel-efficiency achievement recently by becoming the very first automaker to sell more than 100,000 40-mpg vehicles in this country.
Hyundai passed that mark earlier this summer after seeing sales of its 40-mpg vehicle fleet account for 29 percent of its overall volume in the first half of 2011, capped off by a June in which fully 40 percent of all Hyundai vehicles sold in the U.S. boasted EPA ratings of 40 mpg highway. At that point, Hyundai’s overall sales-weighted fuel economy had climbed to a stellar 35.9 mpg.
And that’s just one facet of the automaker’s efforts to set the pace for fuel efficiency in the U.S. market. According to John Krafcik, president and CEO of Hyundai Motors America: “Hyundai aims to be the fuel economy leader and our ‘4 x 40’ strategy is accelerating our overall fuel economy improvement, which now tops 35 mpg across the entire lineup. But we really see 40 mpg as a starting point. We committed to at least 50 mpg corporate average fuel economy by 2025 and remain the only automaker to set our sights so high. Using a mix of technologies to improve the efficiency of our standard, internal combustion engine vehicles, combined with the smart application of hybrid technology, we believe we are on the right path.”
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