Hyundai has announced that there will be a few changes to the 2010 Accent. The most important change for America’s least expensive car is that there will be a 4% increase in fuel efficiency over last year’s model, according to Autoblog.

The 2010 Hyundai Accent will feature a Blue model, which will take over for the base model as the economic choice. Instead of just a stripped down version, the Blue model will feature different transmission fearing and a lowered ride height to increase fuel economy to 31mpg combined.

While the lower ride height and lower transmission gearing will be specific to the Blue model, all Accents will have updated body work, low rolling resistance tires and a new alternator system, all designed to help the car achieve better gas mileage.

It’s nice to see an automaker putting some thought into its low-end cars, which are usually just shells designed to meet a price point for advertisements. Unfortunately, Hyundai is also guilty of slightly misleading customers in order to advertise the Accent as the lowest priced car in America. It costs $1,600 to add air conditioning, a CD player, map lights and a tilt steering wheel to the 2009 Accent, so expect a similar price tag for those items on the 2010 model. Despite the annoying lack of standard features that are basically essential, the Hyundai Accent Blue model’s higher gas mileage will probably steal some frugal buyers away from the more expensive Accents on the lot.

Picture via Hyundai.