Tariffs threaten to increase the price of new cars, but not every automaker will pass the costs to the consumer. Hyundai CEO José Muñoz said this week the company will not increase its prices to offset tariff costs. But changes are coming to the company’s dealership experience. Hyundai is allegedly ending its free maintenance program for 2026 model-year and newer vehicles.
In a bulletin sent to dealers and obtained by Cars Direct, Hyundai said, “The costs of the program grew to unsustainable levels.” Instead, the brand encourages dealers to offer pre-paid maintenance plans,” allowing dealers to “shift focus to a different revenue stream.”
Photo by: Hyundai
Photo by: Jeff Perez / Motor1
Motor1 reached out to Hyundai to confirm the bulletin’s authenticity. We’ll update the story if we hear back.
The company previously offered a basic maintenance plan on new vehicles for up to three years or 36,000 miles, which the bulletin says the company will continue to honor, according to the report. The program provided coverage on 2020-2025 models.
Photo by: Genesis
The loss of the program might upset a few potential buyers, but Hyundai’s commitment to not raising prices could be a draw. Muñoz told Autocar during the Seoul Mobility Show that the US is a “very important market” for Hyundai and one where it needs to “offer a competitive product.”
Late last month, Muñoz said he believes the company’s “localization strategy” will “help mitigate the impact of any potential policy change.” The company also recently announced it will invest $21 billion by 2028, including $9 billion to increase its US production capacity to 1.2 million vehicles a year. Hyundai has a factory in Alabama where it already builds the Hyundai Tucson, Santa Fe, Santa Cruz, the Genesis GV70, among others.
Tariff Threat:
Trump’s 25-Percent Auto Tariff Is Extremely Ambiguous
Car Prices Will Go Up by Thousands Thanks to Tariffs, Say Analysts
Source: Cars Direct, Autocar, Hyundai