The world’s first production hybrid electric vehicle to be powered by a liquefied petroleum injected (LPI) engine has proven an instant sales success for its manufacturer.

Hyundai Motor Corporation has received more than 1,000 pre-sale orders for the Avente/Elantra LPI hybrid since June 17 ahead of the car going on sale in South Korea on July 8.

The vehicle, which is powered by an LPI Gamma engine that displaces 1.6 litres, includes a 15kW permanent magnet synchronous motor as well as a continually variable transmission. It has some eye-catching environmental credentials emitting just 99g/km of carbon dioxide (CO2) – that’s 90 per cent fewer emissions than the equivalent petrol-powered Elantra.

The LPI Hybrid qualifies as a Super Ultra Low Emission Vehicle and has a fuel economy rating of 17.8km/l (42mpg) – the petrol equivalent fuel economy is 51mpg. Overall, this is a 47 per cent improvement compared to the conventional 1.6l Elantra.

So far the car is only available in the manufacturer’s domestic market – a strategy meant to see it compete with the hybrid models from various Japanese manufacturers. LPG vehicles are already successful in the country with LPG only half the price of petrol.

Hyundai now hopes to sell around 8,000 hybrids in the country by the end of the year.