Guess you could say it was a PR decision.
I've seen engines, both Sonata and Optima engines replaced because of high oil consumption, even with 200,000 miles, so thought I'd give it a try. Called Kia mid November complaining of the oil consumption problem and the fellow I spoke with thought a qt every 550/600 miles was excessive so issued a claim number. Before taking it to the dealer, made a trip to Florida and back @ 4000 miles and during that trip, when driving in the normal day to day traffic, oil was disappearing at an alarming rate, so took it to the Kia dealer last week.
As stated, 2 qts 730 miles, so I just assume that they (Kia) decided that the oil usage was naturally excessive, and due to the problems with these engines the only way to correct was an engine replacement. The engine does have a lifetime warranty for the "debris" issue so maybe they thought that in time the engine would completely go, so let's do it know.
I'm with the thought that with these GDI engines, the high heat generated causes the cylinders to become out of round and therefore the high oil consumption and/or engine destruction..
The decision took 3 hours as Kia had the dealership pull the valve cover, for what reason, I don't know. When I went to retrieve items from the car, there was a strong odor of gas as the HP pump had to come off to pull the valve cover, but being curious, lifted the hood and they had the valve cover laying on the engine as was the cover, but didn't want to start taking the items off to see the engine so just closed the hood and went on my way.