The survey, in which more than 10 000 respondents in ten countries were questioned, examined each company's environmental record and how the company is perceived by consumers. Companies were judged on their performance, environmental impact, sustainable growth strategy and their corporate social responsibility programs. In line with this, Hyundai's Blue Drive initiative launched in 2008, encompasses all of the company's eco-friendly technologies and products that contribute to higher fuel efficiency and lower emissions, including gasoline, diesel, electric, hybrid and hydrogen fuel-cell engines. In fact, Hyundai rolled out the Elantra hybrid in 2009 and the Sonata hybrid in 2011 globally and plans to bring plug-in hybrid vehicles to many of their markets soon. In addition, the company is operating test fleets of its hydrogen fuel-cell electric vehicles and pure-electric vehicles, called BlueOn.
Says Stanley Anderson, marketing and sales director at Hyundai Automotive South Africa: "While there are restrictions around the availability of right-hand drive hybrid vehicles from Hyundai at this stage, we are committed to driving our own form of energy efficiency through initiatives that lower carbon emissions and contribute to conservation of some of South Africa's key resources - such as water."
"In light of this, while the conversion of consumer vehicles to compressed natural gas (CNG) is not as yet a viable option, from a commercial vehicle perspective, Hyundai is starting to make these conversions which certainly encourage a safer, cleaner and more reliable energy source with reduced emissions. Furthermore, we are rolling out a pilot project at one of our Johannesburg dealerships that encourages water encatchment and is set to reduce the dealership's use of municipal water for their wash bays by 80%. Should this project prove viable, we will look at rolling this out to the remainder of our dealerships nationwide - which is certainly a substantial contribution to resource conservation locally."
