source:ca.autoblog
New car shoppers less willing to consider Hyundai, Kia after mileage overstatement
Summarizing the results of research carried out by
Edmunds,
Reuters reports that consumers' are less inclined to purchase cars from
Hyundai and
Kia due to the company's recent snafu over inflated mileage claims. The
Edmunds metric of "purchase intent" declined by 1.9 per cent for the
Kia Soul (pictured), meaning that the largest drop in consideration coincided with the model that suffered the biggest drop in mileage ratings. Consideration dropped .4 per cent for the
Hyundai Elantra, and purchasing intent also fell for the
Hyundai Accent and
Veloster, as well as the
Kia Rio.
An
Edmunds analyst thinks the brouhaha could affect "
future business as this development may have a direct impact on Hyundai's credibility with some North American buyers," and Moody's Investment Service figures compensating buyers might cost "US$100 million a year until the cars are scrapped" – and that cost doesn't include
potential damages from lawsuits. But in the "we all have opinions" column,
other analysts don't believe there won't be any serious long-term fallout from the mileage mistatements. Remember, it was only two years ago that
Toyota was being frogmarched across the nation to be pilloried in Washington, D.C. for what is arguably a much more grievous offense, and woe was all the rage when describing Toyota's plight. And now? It's ranked among the best global brands in 2012 and appears poised to retake the title of world's largest automaker.
News Source: Reuters via Automotive News - sub. req.
Image Credit: Copyright 2012 John Neff / AOL
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New car shoppers less willing to consider Hyundai, Kia after mileage overstatement#EANF#
source:ca.autoblog
