20.500.12556/DKUM-96938 Sustainable design of products: balancing quality, life cycle impact, and social responsibility The shift towards sustainable mobility has increased the demand for energy-efficient and environmentally friendly vehicles, such as Hybrid Electric Vehicles (HEVs). However, designing HEVs that simultaneously meet high product quality, minimize environmental impact, and adhere to social responsibility standards remains a complex challenge. This study presents a decision-making model aimed at integrating these key sustainability criteria into the design and improvement of HEVs. The model combines three indices: the Aggregated Quality Index (AQI), Environmental Impact Index (EII) based on Life Cycle Assessment (LCA), and Social Responsibility Index (SRI), to assess and compare different HEV prototypes. By processing customer expectations, environmental impacts, and social responsibility considerations, the model predicts the optimal prototype that balances quality, environmental sustainability, and social standards. The findings demonstrate that applying this model can significantly enhance decision-making in sustainable vehicle development and support the creation of HEVs that better align with global sustainability goals. This approach has practical implications for automotive manufacturers aiming to innovate responsibly in the green mobility sector. hybrid electric vehicle HEV eco-innovation product quality sustainable development life cycle assessment LCA multiple criteria decision-making MCDM mechanical engineering public management hibridna električna vozila kvaliteta proizvodov mehansko inženirstvo true false true Chair of Production Engineering (CPE), University of Maribor Faculty of Mechanical Engineering Angleški jezik Slovenski jezik https://apem-journal.org/ Content from this work may be used under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Licence (CC BY 4.0). Any further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the title of the work, journal citation and DOI. Članek v reviji 2026-02-04 10:36:15 2026-02-04 10:36:16 2026-03-20 07:07:06 0000-00-00 00:00:00 2024 0 0 str. 460-488 no. 4 Vol. 19 Dec. 2024 0000-00-00 Zaloznikova Objavljeno NiDoloceno 2024-10-27 2024-12-19 2024-12-30 621.3:658.562 267229187 10.14743/apem2024.4.519 1854-6250 APEM19-4_460-488.pdf APEM19-4_460-488.pdf 1 454EA7071AD95C2641E81BC856327D25 eddac42ae9e66bc1952e333dfe74d3641d829793be6ca3ff06ee2230604096ce 3fc292a1-01ad-11f1-841f-00155d581219 https://dk.um.si/Dokument.php?lang=slv&id=203037 https://apem-journal.org/Archives/2024/Abstract-APEM19-4_460-488.html 0 440f0665-01ad-11f1-841f-00155d581219 https://dk.um.si/Dokument.php?lang=slv&id=203038 Fakulteta za strojništvo Advances in production engineering & management 0 0 0