[횡설수설/박중현]Hyundai Motor Company Allowed to Sell Used Cars

In November 2015, in Nashville, Tennessee, U.S. online used car dealer Cavana unveiled a ‘vehicle vending machine’ the size of a five-story building. Customers who purchase a car following viewing the three-dimensional image and repair details of a used car on the Internet come here and receive a coin engraved with their name. When you insert a coin into the slot, the robot arm takes out the car parked in the transparent building. Returns are possible within 7 days. As more and more people are reluctant to deal face-to-face when buying a used car due to COVID-19, cabana is in the spotlight as the ‘Amazon of the used car industry’.

▷ In order to buy and sell used cars online, you need to trust the seller, but Korean consumers have low confidence in the used car market. A new turning point has come as the Ministry of SMEs and Startups recently decided not to include the used car sales business as a ‘business suitable for a livelihood’. This is an opportunity for automakers such as Hyundai Motor Company, Kia Motors, GM Korea, Renault Korea and Ssangyong Motor to enter the used car market. Most of the companies are planning to start the ‘certified used car’ business within six months.

▷Imported car makers, such as Mercedes-Benz, BMW, and Tesla, have already been engaged in the certified used car business in Korea. It compensates new car buyers for their previously used car at an appropriate price, repairs the used car and sells it with a warranty. New car customers are relieved of the burden, and customers who want used imported cars can ride safely. Domestic automakers have been subjected to reverse discrimination once morest the backlash from the used car industry.

▷Consumer groups are welcoming the participation of automakers in the used car market. This is because some unconscientious small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) put bait and fake products on the Internet and sold expensive and low-quality used cars to customers who came to see them. In May of last year, there was a case where a 60-something who was deceived by a used car sales fraud group and bought a truck with installments but might not pay the debt made an extreme choice.

▷Hyundai Motor plans to trade only its own vehicles that have passed quality tests with less than 100,000 km of mileage for 5 years following the first purchase, and their market share will not exceed 5.1% by 2024 for win-win cooperation with small and medium-sized companies. Last year, the number of used car sales in Korea was 3872,000, 2.2 times the number of new car sales. The market size will grow even more if consumer confidence is increased by the entry of finished car makers.

▷ Some critics say that the development of the used car market has been delayed as the government’s decision, which should have been made three years ago, was delayed. The government paid too much attention to the used car industry’s claim that it would be rejected by large companies. Convenience of consumers is as important as win-win. It is the government’s job to support and encourage the emergence of ‘used car ventures’ that challenge new ideas and sales methods like cabanas.

Park Joong-hyun, Editorial Fellow [e-mail]

#Hyundai#used car sales

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