Hyundai comes up with a potent weapon for the war of incentives between car makers. A new car design may not do the trick in an economy so bad where people will worry last about their cars. Hyundai partnered with Walkaway USA LLC to offer Job Loss Insurance for car buyers.
The program will run for the whole of 2009 to convince buyers that their credit score will not be ruined in case they cannot pay for the new car because they were retrenched from work.
So the twist will cover the Hyundai buyer in the event he or she loses her job within a year after purchase. The buyer will be able to return the car to Hyundai to avoid any damage to the credit score. The buyers must then have a proof that they have been laid off. The status of the payment must be current.
Given that all conditions are satisfied, the car buyer can leave the car with the dealer and insurance company Walkaway will pay the bills. This will cost zero to the buyer.
Executives of Hyundai disclosed that a big chunk of their marketing fund is allotted to the program. The car manufacturer is paying for the first year of insurance for the car buyers.
The program was started in January 2 and so far positive feedbacks have been coming in from the different dealers. A lot of people are interested to explore their options because of the job loss insurance policy promo.
Hyundai has the exclusive rights with Walkaway to run such a program. They are expecting though that competitors may follow suit. So far, Korean affiliate Kia is not offering the program.