Competition Commission of Pakistan issued a show-cause notice to the Korean automaker Hyundai-Nishat, prima facie (sufficient to establish a fact or raise a presumption unless disproved or rebutted), for deceptive marketing and misleading advertisement of its Sports Utility Vehicle (SUV) Tucson.
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The notice was issued for violation of Section 10 of the Competition Act, 2010.
To this account, the official account of the CCP posted the statement as well.
CCP while concluding an enquiry has 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. pic.twitter.com/qJceXpjRR9
— Competition Commission of Pakistan (@CCP_Pakistan) March 9, 2021
The Commission took suo motu on the Hyundai’s advertisements publicizing the ‘introductory price’ of Tucson, as the ‘for a limited period only’, written in fine print. This was published in the print media and posted on various social media platforms.
“In these advertisements, though the introductory price was visibly printed in large font size, the disclaimer was not easily noticeable as it was printed much smaller font size,” the CCP said after the inquiry.
The statement from the CCP also said that it had been brought to its attention that the initial booking of the car with the ‘introductory price’ lasted for less than twenty-four hours. After that, the company declared that all the units of the car at a special price were booked and the introductory price list was removed from all platforms. The price of the car post this was increased by Rs. 0.2 million.
The investigation by the CCP’s Office of Fair Trade (OFT) found the advertisement to be misleading as the placement of the disclaimer could potentially give the interested customers the wrong idea.
Furthermore, the advertisement had missed out on vital information to give to the interested audience like:
- The period during which the introductory prices would be applicable.
- The number of vehicles that the company intended to be sold at ‘introductory price’, and the company was, thus, prima facie, violating the provisions of Section 10 of the Competition Act.
Consequently, a show-cause notice has been served to M/s Hyundai Nishat Motor (Pvt) Limited company on the recommendations of the inquiry, and the company has been given 14 days to respond.
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The CCP is mandated under the Competition Act 2010 to ensure fair competition in all spheres of commercial and economic activities to enhance economic efficiency and to protect consumers from deceptive marketing practices.