Hyundai Motor to expand into secondhand EV market

Hyundai Motor Co. will expand its certified secondhand car business into electric vehicles (EVs) to increase the range of used vehicles it deals with and boost profits from the business, the company said on Sunday.

Starting in March, the South Korean carmaker will sell certified secondhand EVs that pass its rigorous quality tests.

To ease customer anxiety about EV battery performance and reliability, it will establish certification standards to measure battery damage and determine lifespan in collaboration with its research institute.

This year, it aims to sell 15,000 units of used cars. That figure is slightly lower than its original target, which it did not unveil, in consideration of the sluggish used car market.

Hyundai entered the used car market in October last year after the government lifted a ban on big companies’ entry into the market.

It was the first domestic carmaker to advance into the market, long regarded as a hotbed for distrust and fraud due to rampant deceptive sales practices in the sector.

It is not allowed to enlarge its market share beyond a certain level, however, to protect smaller car dealers.

Hyundai is only selling certified cars in the secondhand market under the Hyundai and Kia brands, as well as its premium marque Genesis. To meet its certification standards, the vehicles must have less than 100,000 kilometers over a period of up to five years, with no accident history.

According to Hyundai Motor, it sold 1,057 certified used car units over the past 100 days.

By vehicle type, Grandeur sold the most with 181 units, followed by Genesis G80 (128 units), GV70 (92 units), Santa Fe SUV (89 units) and Palisade (81 units).

When including vehicles that Hyundai auctioned off because they did not meet its certification standards and vehicles from other brands that it bought from consumers and sold back, the figure increased to 1,555 units.

To attract car owners, it will increase the price at which it purchases used cars by as high as 4% of the estimated vehicle price starting this year, compared to the current 2%.

To improve consumer accessibility, Hyundai plans to open new certified used car centers in the Seoul metropolitan area. It currently runs two service centers for its certified used cars: in Yongin, Gyeonggi Province, and in Yangsan, South Gyeongsang Province.

In addition, Hyundai will extend the used-car warranty by one year and 20,000 km. That will apply to the buyer of a car whose three year 60,000 km mileage warranty has expired, as well as a vehicle with a remaining warranty of one year and 20,000 km mileage.

Write to Nan-Sae Bin at binthere@hankyung.com
 

Yeonhee Kim edited this article