Hyundai managing director Tony Whitehorn agreed to a live questions and answer session from customers frustrated at having to wait for supply of its new ix35 crossover.
The session, which was initiated on behalf of ‘Honest John’ (Daily Telegraph & www.honestjohn.co.uk), lasted 1.5 hours and allowed customers to ask a range of questions from compensation to whether the supply problems were specific to the UK or the whole of Europe.
This is the first time a manufacturer has answered questions directly to the customers and could set a trend for the future. Dealers will also be relieved as most of the questions from customers seemed to be in support of the dealer network where they’ve placed orders.
Tony Whitehorn revealed that most customers have ordered the 2.0 CRDi which has put a strain on the production lines. However, he suggested those customers could choose the 1.7 diesel and 1.6 petrol models if they didn’t wish to wait any longer.
One customer revealed he’d ordered a car from an internet company in March and wanted to know if Hyundai would only give priority to dealer orders. Mr Whitehorn asked the name of the company stating Hyundai don’t supply ix35 to third parties and all cars will be coming via the dealer network. I would imagine that internet company won’t be supplying bogus orders for much longer.
Overall the session allowed the opportunity to clear the air and should have gone someway to appeasing customers.
You can download a copy of the full transcript.
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Wow!! That took some guts to go live and answer questions like this. Shows the t’internet is changing the way we do business. Kudo’s to honest John to bring this to a head and for Hyundai to field questions.