As you probably know, the United States has entered the third day of government shutdown, which means non-essential federal services and agencies are closed, with over 800,000 employees sent home on unpaid leave. Given that this is a hot topic in the U.S. right now, some carmakers have made moves to help out furloughed federal workers.
Today, Hyundai Motor America announced the launch of a new payment deferral program aimed at helping these employees during the government shutdown. The plan, which is an addition to Hyundai’s Assurance program, consists of the extension of “all auto loan and lease payments during the shutdown for current Hyundai owners who are furloughed”.
The company said current owners of Hyundai vehicles will be provided relief from payments for as long as they are out of work, while furloughed employees who want to buy a car in October will be offered a 90-day payment deferral. The program applies to customers who have financed their purchases or leases through Hyundai Finance America.
“Like we did almost four years ago when we launched Hyundai Assurance, this is our way of saying ‘We’ve got your back’ during this uncertain time,” said John Krafcik, president and CEO of Hyundai Motor America.
Nissan also announced a similar program by offering a standard extension of payments up to 90 days for purchases or leases of new Nissan and Infiniti vehicles through Nissan Motor Acceptance Corp. (NMAC).
“NMAC is sympathetic to any of our customers who find themselves in difficult financial circumstances – many times outside of their control – and we want to provide assistance to help them through those times of uncertainty,” said Mark Kaczynski, president, NMAC.
By Dan Mihalascu
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