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Korean automakers Hyundai and Kia will pay the U.S. government a $100 million civil penalty to end a two-year investigation into overstated gas mileage figures on window stickers on 1.2 million vehicles.The penalty, announced Monday by the Justice Department and the Environmental Protection Agency, is the first under new rules aimed at limiting the amount of heat-trapping gases cars are allowed to emit. Those regulations are a cornerstone of President Barack Obama's plans to combat global warming and are achieved largely through improving vehicle fuel economy.The payment could also serve as a precedent for other automakers who overstate mileage in violation of the Clean Air Act.Under the settlement, Hyundai-Kia will forfeit greenhouse gas credits worth more than $200 million because the 13 affected vehicles will emit about 4.75 million more metric tons of greenhouse gases than the automakers originally claimed. The credits could have been sold to other automakers who aren't meeting emissions standards.Hyundai-Kia must also audit test results on current models, and set up an independent group to certify future test results, at a cost of around $50 million.
