Finally bringing some positive car news to the fold as a result of coronavirus, Hyundai and luxury arm Genesis have announced that they will cover up to six months worth of car payments for new owners who find themselves unexpectedly unemployed this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
What’s more, customers also have the option of deferring payments by 90 days as long as they lease or finance a new Hyundai Santa Fe, Tucson, Elantra, Elantra GT, Kona, Venue, Accent, or Genesis G70.
To be clear, this only applies to folks who lease or finance a new car through Hyundai Capital or Genesis Finance from March 14—the day the program was announced—through April 30 and lose their jobs involuntarily. Meaning, no, it doesn’t count if you were going to quit or retire anyways. Anyone who acquired a new Hyundai before Saturday will, unfortunately, also be out of luck, making this less of a charitable campaign that benefits existing customers but rather a thinly-veiled, 45-day promotion designed to attract new ones.
At the end of the day, Hyundai Motor America is a business and we can’t fault it too much for extending a lifeline to new clients in these uncertain times. To be fair, this isn’t the first time Hyundai has offered financial relief to customers hit by global catastrophes. After the 2008 financial crisis, the Korean automaker allowed customers to return their cars if they lost their job.
Regardless of the technicalities, it’s just nice to report on positive coronavirus-related news for a change. In the spirit of offering bonus content people didn’t expect, here’s a teaser of the upcoming, redesigned 2021 Elantra if you haven’t seen it yet. Now, go wash your hands.
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