March 09, 2021: The Competition Commission of Pakistan (CCP) while concluding an enquiry issued a show-cause notice to M/s Hyundai Nishat Motor (Pvt) Limited for, prima facie, deceptive marketing practices in the marketing campaign for its new SUV, “Hyundai Tucson,”, in violation of Section 10 of the Competition Act, 2010.
The CCP took a suo motu notice of the advertisements published in print media and on various social media platforms publicising the ‘introductory price’ of Hyundai Tucson with a disclaimer, ‘for a limited period only’, said a press release issued here.
In these advertisements, though the ‘introductory price’ was visibly printed in large font size, yet the disclaimer was not easily noticeable as it was printed much smaller font size.
Moreover, it was also brought to the CCP’s notice that the initial booking period for Hyundai Tucson with the ‘introductory price’ lasted for less than 24 hours, and then the price was raised by PKR 200,000. Within 24 hours of the initial bookings, the company declared that all units of Tucson at the introductory price were booked and the introductory price list was removed from its website, Facebook, and Instagram pages.
The CCP’s Office of Fair Trade (OFT) in its enquiry found the advertisement to be problematic in that the position of the disclaimer could potentially mislead the consumers. Moreover, the advertisement left the overall impression that the company did not clearly indicate to consumers: (i) the period in which the introductory prices would apply, and (ii) the number of vehicles that were available at that price point, thereby, prima facie, violating provisions of Section 10 of the Competition Act.
On the enquiry’s recommendations, a show cause notice has been served on M/s Hyundai Nishat Motor (Pvt) Limited company and the company has been given 14 days to respond.
CCP is mandated under the Competition Act to ensure fair competition in all spheres of commercial and economic activity to enhance economic efficiency and to protect consumers from deceptive marketing practices including deceptive marketing practices.
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