"Try It for a Month First... Hyundai Kia Motors' Purchase Assurance Service"

[Asia Economy Reporter Suyeon Woo] Hyundai Kia Motors' purchase reassurance program has recently gained attention during the economic downturn caused by the spread of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19). It allows exchanges or returns within one month after vehicle delivery, making it useful when unexpected changes occur in the buyer's financial situation.

As concerns grow over a prolonged economic recession due to COVID-19, consumer sentiment is rapidly freezing. Hyundai Kia Motors operates a customer care program that allows customers to return their vehicles or exchange them simply due to a change of mind if maintaining the vehicle becomes difficult due to unemployment or accidents.

In 2016, Hyundai Motor Company launched the 'Hyundai Advantage Program,' which allows model exchanges, new car exchanges, and reassurance installment plans (vehicle returns), and has been operating it since then. As of last month, the cumulative number of customers who have used this program reached 1,192.

The 'model exchange' under the Hyundai Advantage Program is available to customers who meet conditions such as ▲within one month after delivery ▲less than 3,000 km driven ▲repair costs under 300,000 KRW, allowing them to exchange their vehicle for a new model if unsatisfied.

The new car exchange applies if a vehicle accident occurs within one year, under conditions such as ▲less than 50% self-fault in a vehicle-to-vehicle accident ▲repair costs exceeding 30% of the vehicle price ▲completion of repairs on the accident vehicle, allowing exchange for a new model.

The reassurance installment plan applies if conditions such as ▲standard down payment rate of 10% or more, use of an installment program within 36 months ▲annual driving under 20,000 km ▲restoration of the vehicle to its original condition are met, allowing customers to return the purchased vehicle freely after one month from the start of the installment and replace the remaining installment payments.

Kia Motors has also been operating the 'Kia VIK Guarantee' program since March last year, which is the longest domestic brand used car price guarantee program, allowing exchanges for new cars up to five years after purchase. Kia supports customers to sell their vehicles at the highest price through auctions and guarantees used car prices for up to five years after purchase. Over the past year, 211,293 customers have returned used cars and purchased new ones through this program.

Additionally, starting this month, Kia Motors operates a new concept purchase program called 'Hope Plan 365 FREE' for customers who have difficulty paying installments due to COVID-19, allowing vehicle purchase without payment burden for the first 12 months of the installment period.

Individual and sole proprietor customers who purchase Morning, Ray, K3, K7, Stinger, Soul, Stonic, Sportage, Carnival, Bongo, and personal taxi (K5·K7) vehicles in April can use this program to enjoy the vehicle without monthly payments for the initial 12 months of the total 48-month installment period. For the remaining 36 months, a special interest rate of 3.9% applies to repay principal and interest.

Meanwhile, Hyundai Kia Motors has benchmarked these domestic purchase reassurance programs and started applying them to the Chinese market. Earlier this month, Beijing Hyundai, a joint venture of Hyundai Motor Company, launched 'Xin An Li De (心安?得, meaning peace of mind and various benefits)' in China, a program almost identical to the 'Hyundai Advantage,' and began market penetration.

However, unlike the domestic program, 'Xin An Li De' launched in the Chinese market is limited to six models?Tucson (TL), Mingtou, ix35, Lafesta, Santa Fe, and ix25?and will be operated temporarily until June this year.

Kia's Chinese joint venture Dongfeng Yueda Kia also launched a customer care program called 'Ai Xin Bu Duan (愛新不斷, meaning love never ends)' earlier this month. This program not only supports new car purchases through used car price guarantees but also operates a program that pays installments for six months if income is lost due to unemployment or infectious diseases.

A Hyundai Kia Motors official said, "We benchmarked the customer care programs pioneered in the domestic market and applied them to the Chinese market, which is facing sales difficulties," adding, "We will do our best to overcome the crisis through customer-centered marketing both domestically and abroad."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.