[Global Finance Awards] Hyundai Capital leads CPO business with strict inspections, credibility

When buying a used car, customers look for the highest quality possible at the best price.

Although South Korea has a wide range of dealerships for used cars, many still find it difficult to make a decision, mainly because of the issue of trust.

To ease concerns over cheating, such as dealers concealing information about vehicles, Hyundai Capital, a Korean provider of consumer financial services, has been taking the lead in providing certified pre-owned programs with a strict inspection process and preventative measures to screen out unreliable dealers.

As part of efforts to improve transparency in the used car market, Hyundai Capital has set up a high-standard certification system for pre-owned cars, which customers can rely on and use to find quality cars with warranties.

Hyundai Capital’s certified pre-owned program offers convenient and trustworthy services at spacious showrooms that display prices and information on a vehicle’s history.

Launched in 2015, Hyundai Capital’s program has expanded nationwide to major cities including Busan, Daegu and Jeju.

All branches provide a standardized system and infrastructure to ensure the quality of services.

Following intensive studies, Hyundai Capital set up the certification process, in which every product is evaluated in four stages.

In the first stage, every product is given a label that ranges from A to E after a review of the vehicle’s history. Hyundai Capital then chooses only vehicles with high marks that have no record of accidents or only minor ones. Vehicles more than 5 years old and with mileage over 100,000 kilometers are also excluded.

The vehicles then go through closer examination to identify potential mechanical problems and are sent for improvement on a total of 233 items.

Hyundai Capital discloses all vehicle history reports and dealership maintenance records so that customers can choose cars under the program without any doubt.

The company recently opened an online site that contains detailed information on products, the payment system and financial services for customers.

By Cho Chung-un (christory@heraldcorp.com)