Competition Commission of Pakistan (CCP) issued a show-cause notice to Hyundai Nishat Motor (Pvt) Limited while concluding an inquiry for deceptive marketing campaign for its new Sports Utility Vehicle (SUV) ‘Hyundai Tucson’.
CCP released a statement that notice was sent to the company over alleged violation of Section-10 of Competition Act 2010.
The suo moto notice by CCP was sent to Nishat Motor against the advertisement of Hyundai Tucson published in print media and other social media platforms that marketed the “introductory price’ of the vehicle with a disclaimer ‘for a limited period’ in much smaller font size.
“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”, CCP maintained.
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Not only this, the company held initial booking period with an introductory price for less than 24 hours and it was raised by PKR 200,000 after that.
“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”, CCP stated.
While conducting inquiry, CCP’s Office of Fair Trade (OFT) claimed that position of disclaimer could be misleading for potential consumers due to its placement.
Additionally, the company failed to elaborate essential details in the advertisement. The period of introductory prices and the number of vehicles available at the price point was not clear.
Due to alleged negligence and deceptive attempts by Nishat Motor, the company has been given two weeks to respond.
According to sources, 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.