Green Car Advisor

Hyundai Motor Co. says it can use existing technologies to boost fuel economy for its U.S. market cars and trucks by about 10% over the next few years as it moves to meet new federal gas mileage rules.

"There is really no home run [solution] out there," Timothy White, the company's senior U.S. powertrain manager, said in an interview with the trade publication Automotive News. The needed improvement will have to be made by applying dozens of individual technologies.

About half the needed fuel economy improvements in the company's fleet will come from power train improvements and half will come from using lightweight structural materials and energy-saving technologies -- such as LED lighting and electric power steering -- that reduce mileage-robbing parasitic drain on engine output, he said.

Federal fuel economy regulations proposed last month would require Hyundai's cars to average 37.5 mpg and its trucks to average 31 mpg by the 2015 model year. The company's 2007 car line averaged 32.4 mpg, Automotive News reported, and its trucks averaged 25.5 mpg.

Hyundai intends to use improved aerodynamics, lighter weight and  tires with low rolling resistance  to help improve mileage.

It also will boost fuel economy by using six-speed automatic transmissions and direct-injection gasoline engines. White said direct injection provides a fuel economy boost of 3 to 6 percent because of more efficient combustion.

While the only Hyundai model in the U.S. today with a six-speed automatic is the  Veracruz crossover SUV. But by the end of 2010 the fuel-efficient transmissions will be offered on all of the automaker's U.S. models with V-6 engines and on most models with four-cylinder engines.

White didn't offer a timetable for introduction of direct-injection engines, which burn fuel more efficiently than engines with conventional port fuel injection.

John O'Dell, Senior Editor