Hyundai taps American dealers on the fingers because of too high prices

The major global delivery problems due to the chip shortage mean that new cars are relatively scarce. In the United States, this means that some dealers will charge more for new cars. In itself this seems quite logical, after all, scarcity made goods more expensive, but in some cases there could be a question of deception. The high prices are also potentially harmful to the image of the brand in question. The latter stings Hyundai quite a bit and that is why it appeals to its American dealer network.

According to Automotive News Hyundai points out to the dealers of Hyundai, Kia and Genesis that although they have the freedom to apply their own pricing policy, this must remain reasonable. For example, in some cases, customers would be lured to the showroom with a lower price on the Internet than the actual cars in the showroom. Sometimes there would also be unacceptably large differences between the price that Hyundai itself communicates to the dealers and the price that the dealers put on the car.

Hyundai is urging dealers to be fair to customers while also limiting price increases: “Once the supply picks up again, customers may feel they have paid too much for their car and then take the next time to another brand.” There’s a lot at stake, it says sharply: “We can’t just sit and watch as the aforementioned dealers wipe out all the efforts we’ve put together to make these brands what they are today.”

Wider problem

Of course, such practices are not reserved for Hyundai, Kia and Genesis dealers. An investigation by Edmunds indicated Automotive News found that as much as 82 percent of all new cars were sold in January for a price higher than the original price. On average, it would be about €690 difference. At Kia, however, the average difference would be more than €2,000 and at Hyundai and Genesis €1,320 and €1,413 respectively.