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Appeals court upholds Hyundai-Kia gas mileage settlement

Posted On: Jun. 7, 2019 10:27 AM CST

Kia and Hyundai cars

(Reuters) — A U.S. appeals court on Thursday upheld a $210 million nationwide class action settlement for owners of Hyundai Motor Co. and Kia Motors Corp. vehicles whose fuel economy was inflated.

By an 8-3 vote, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Pasadena, California, said there was enough in common among vehicle drivers to let them settle as a group.

The appeals court also said there was no evidence of collusion between the drivers’ lawyers and the automakers.

The litigation began after the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency found flaws in Hyundai’s and Kia’s testing procedures, and the automakers lowered fuel efficiency estimates for about 900,000 vehicles in the 2011, 2012 and 2013 model years.