Hybrid Competition
The Korea Energy Management Corporation announced on Nov. 27 that Hyundai Motor Company’s LF Sonata Hybrid, running on 16-inch tires, recorded gas mileage of 18.2 kilometers per liter (42.8 MPG), which is approximately 9 percent better than that of the YF Sonata Hybrid and 1.8 km higher than that of Toyota’s New Camry Hybrid. The mileage is 17.7 km per liter (41.6 MPG) on 17-inch tires.
“At the same time, the LF Sonata Hybrid’s CO2 emissions decreased by 6 g/km to 94 g/km, and thus owners of this model can be given the one million won [US$905] government subsidy from next year,” the corporation added.
Recently, Hyundai Motor Company announced that it would increase the number of its green car models to 22 by 2020, while raising the average fuel efficiency of its cars by 25 percent. The LF Sonata Hybrid can be regarded as the starting point of the plan.
Between January and October this year, 4,101 consumers opted for the Sonata Hybrid in Korea, and 567 for the Camry Hybrid, respectively. Still, it is the latter, not the former, that is considered to be outperforming the opponent, given the average sales volumes of domestic and imported cars.
During the same period, the hybrid model sale ratio was limited to 4.6 percent for the Sonata, while the percentage was as high as 28 percent for the Camry. The gap is even wider in the United States, where Toyota accounts for over 60 percent of the hybrid vehicle market, with Hyundai at below 10 percent.