SEOUL, South Korea — Underscoring that it plans to field one of the most fuel-efficient fleets in the business, Hyundai on Wednesday confirmed that it expects to reach America's new fuel economy standard of 35 miles per gallon by 2015. That means the Korean automaker would hit the goal five years before compliance is required.'We believe we have the engineering resources and the confidence to reach our target by 2015,' said Hyun-Soon Lee, president of the Hyundai-Kia corporate research and development division, in a statement released on Wednesday. 'Hyundai is determined to be the industry leader in fuel efficiency.'Hyundai recently confirmed that it plans to introduce a Sonata hybrid to the U.S. market in 2010. However, it is clear that Hyundai doesn't expect to lean too heavily on hybrids to meet the tough fuel economy targets that many other automakers have griped are too stringent.Hyundai said it is working on gasoline direct injection, eight-speed automatic transmissions, dual continuously variable valve timing and other fuel-saving technologies in the race to meet the fuel economy rule early.The Korean automaker is already on track to pull ahead of other automakers in the fuel economy race. The auto industry averaged 26.6 mpg in the 2007 model year for light vehicles sold in the United States, compared with Hyundai's 29.4 mpg. Only Toyota and Honda slightly outpaced Hyundai in the fuel efficiency of their fleets.What this means to you: If a fuel miser is in your future, Hyundai may be a brand to watch. — Hoseok Park, Correspondent