Just three days after Hyundai and Kia agreed to pay $350 million in penalties for what the U.S. government alleged was fudging EPA mpg scores the companies said by 2020 they’d beat South Korea, the United States and Europe regs by 25 percent.

Yesterday Hyundai and its affiliate Kia said the mandate was already in the works as the company strives to regain slipping competitiveness in certain markets, including their home Korean market.

“In the first half of this year, group chairman Chung Mong-koo ordered to secure world-leading competitiveness in fuel economy by 2020,” Hyundai said in a statement.

SEE ALSO: Hyundai Settles 2012 MPG Issue With EPA, CARB

As far as alternative tech goes, Hyundai will release an updated Sonata hybrid, is at work on a dedicated Prius competitive platform and its fuel cell Tucson also has launched with Autodata reporting six sales in September, one in October.

Kia has its Optima hybrid and new for-now-limited Soul EV (pictured).

The heavy lifting of whittling down fuel efficiency averages at the juncture will be accomplished by more-efficient, including turbocharged conventional engines, transmissions and weight cutting including by use of high-strength steel.

The two companies share components and of their 10 gas and diesel engines, they said they’d replace 70 percent to meet their 2020 vision.