New Hyundai Customers May Benefit from Locked In Gas Prices

The auto industry may be suffering pretty heavily from the recession, but Hyundai has created a strategy that may bring in some new customers – and even snatch some away from the competition. This time, it doesn’t involve auto loan rates. We all know that gas prices have dropped considerably since around October of last year, but in recent weeks they’ve been creeping back up. Well Hyundai has a solution for that. If you purchase a new car from the dealership, you have an opportunity to lock in a price for gas that is much cheaper than the current AAA average.

What’s the Deal with Gas?

So this is the deal. For a limited time, if you go in and purchase a new Hyundai, you have a chance to lock in $1.49 per gallon in gas for one full year. This most certainly beats paying the current average of $2.63 per gallon, especially when we know that the odds of seeing prices as low as those offered by Hyundai anytime soon are slim to none.

So is it Working?

The good news for Hyundai is that the strategy is working to sell cars. In fact, according to the company’s recent monthly sales reports, they have been able to  take 4.3% of the U.S. market so far this year, as opposed to 2.8% in 2008, according to Autodata. Something must be working.

And in addition to the gas-capping strategy, Hyundai has taken the approach many other auto dealers have chosen: covering new-car payments if the buyer loses employment. Using these two options to help consumers is probably also working to their advantage.

So what do you think? Can incentives like these lure you in as a new customer?