Hyundai sued by dealers in the USA

“Instead of organic growth fueled by desirable vehicles and
consumer demand, HMA created a multitiered scheme to cause its dealers to report false sales,” the lawsuit states. Dealers that agreed to improperly code the vehicles were rewarded by Hyundai with wholesale and retail price discounts and other incentives, according to the lawsuit. Specifically, the lawsuit alleges that cooperating dealers received extra inventory of faster selling Hyundai models. The lawsuit itself was filed on Friday by Napleton Aurora Imports in Illinois.

Hyundai responded with a statement on Monday, stating that it does not condone falsifying sales data and had opened an investigation after it was alerted to the allegations. In addition, Reuters writes that Hyundai is “pursuing litigation in South Florida to terminate two Napleton-affiliated franchises there tied to a criminal sexual battery allegation.”

The case in Chicago centres around fraud and the alleged violation of the Robinson-Patman Act, a federal antitrust law that bars sellers from discriminating on the basis of price. However, it remains unclear where the pressure originated – the lawsuit also cited a phone call from a Hyundai district sales manager who said “we gotta hit a number for the press and for the Koreans.” At the moment, the dealers claim that they have been denied benefits from Hyundai and have petitioned the court to award “damages to cover lost sales, revenue and profit.”

reuters.com, thomsonreuters.com (filing as PDF)