ISLAMABAD: The Competition Commission of Pakistan (CCP) has issued a showcause 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’.
Concluding its inquiry on Tuesday, the CCP said it issued the show causenotice to the company over alleged violation of Section 10 of theCompetition Act, 2010.
The CCP took a suo motu notice of advertisements published in print mediaand on various social media platforms publicising the ‘introductory price’of Hyundai Tucson with a disclaimer, ‘for a limited period only’. In theseadvertisements, though the ‘introductory price’ was visibly printed inlarge font size, yet the disclaimer was not easily noticeable as it wasprinted at a much smaller font size.
Moreover, it was also brought to the CCP’s notice that the initial bookingperiod for Hyundai Tucson with the ‘introductory price’ lasted for lessthan 24 hours, and then the price was raised by Rs200,000. Within 24 hoursof the initial bookings, the company declared that all units of Tucson atthe introductory price were booked and the introductory price list wasremoved from its website, Facebook and Instagram pages.Article continues after this advertisement
The CCP’s Office of Fair Trade (OFT) in its inquiry found the advertisementto be problematic in that the position of the disclaimer could potentiallymislead the consumers. Also, the advertisement left an overall impressionthat the company did not clearly indicate to consumers: (i) the period inwhich the introductory prices would apply, and (ii) the number of vehiclesthat were available at that price point.
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On the inquiry’s recommendations, a show cause notice has been served onM/s Hyundai Nishat Motor (Pvt) Limited company and the company has beengiven 14 days to respond.
The CCP is mandated under the Competition Act to ensure fair competition inall spheres of commercial and economic activity to enhance economicefficiency and to protect consumers from deceptive marketing practicesincluding deceptive marketing practices.
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