Hyundai's poor marketing.

[ajls09873]

Sell the luxury sedan at COSTCO?

WTF

http://www.autoguide.com/auto-news/2010/04/hyundai-genesis-sedan-now-available-at-costco.html

 

[Mark_888]

Costco is a luxury warehouse store (well, at least it is a step up from Sam's). I don't know what other kinds of cars Costco sells on-line, but my Costco almost always has a BMW demo parked right at the front door under the overhang of the building.

Many organizations such as credit unions offer similar buying services for most car brands, including many luxury brands. But the prices Hyundai is offering via Costco and the Hyundai Associate program (I forgot the new name) does seem to suggest that they are not moving as many Genesis vehicles as they would like via the traditional methods. I think this may be an indication of the problems that buyers have with Hyundai dealers more than anything else, and this is just an alternate distribution method.

 

[ajls09873]

This is 100% poor marketing. It is same as selling Lexus at wallmart.

 

[Mark_888]

This is 100% poor marketing. It is same as selling Lexus at wallmart.

You can get a Lexus through a on-line service offered at Sam's (which is warehouse division owned by Walmart). You need to get out more.

 

[ajls09873]

You can get a Lexus through a on-line service offered at Sam's (which is warehouse division owned by Walmart). You need to get out more.

I point out their poor marketing. They selling their luxury products under mediocre brand name, wallmart-like('everyday low price') store.

 

[dataguy]

It's an auto buying service that, like others, negotiates a fleet or employee pricing discount with manufacturers or dealers.

 

[dataguy]

I point out their poor marketing. They selling their luxury products under mediocre brand name, wallmart-like('everyday low price') store.

Speaking about Wal-Mart...

 

[jwaters943]

First off, they aren't selling the Genesis at Costco. You can't buy one on their website or go in and say 'hey, were do you keep the cars' and be directed to aisle 5 where you can have your pick. This is merely a deal that is currently being offered through Costco's Auto Buying service. Your local dealer(s) can chose to participate or not. Costco acts as the middle man to help you get a new car at a fair price without all the haggling, but you still buy the car through the dealer.

With that said, some dealers do choose to park their cars in front of Costco because they know the foot traffic through their doors is massive and it's a good way for people to take notice of their dealership and/or new cars that they want to sell. You still can't go in and buy it from Costco though. FWIW, in recent months I've seen a Lexus ES350 & GX460, MB C300 & E350, as well as a Buick Lacrosse. Yes, I've also seen a Genesis out front, but that was about a year ago. I guess the guys at Lexus, MB and GM suck at 'marketing' too.

Lastly, stop acting like the Genesis is some uber-luxury sedan ala Bentley/Rolls Royce. It is a great car, but price-wise it's still cheaper than many non-luxury vehicles and well within reach of most upper middle class Costco shoppers (their typical demographic).

 

[philel]

Hey the head of marketing was just recruited heavly by Nissan and he has moved on to Nissan, great move by Nissan, guy is actually pretty brilliant marketer.

 

[Dimitry]

It's a car buying service. They have a special for car buyers through Costco, why would it be "poor marketing" ?

It in fact is a fantastic deal, and if anything, it moves more cars. I don't care where I find the deal, if it's directly at the dealer, or a car buying service - the bottom line matters. And this deal is win.

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[YEH]

It's an auto buying service that, like others, negotiates a fleet or employee pricing discount with manufacturers or dealers.

What he said.

It's a car buying service. They have a special for car buyers through Costco, why would it be "poor marketing" ?

It in fact is a fantastic deal, and if anything, it moves more cars. I don't care where I find the deal, if it's directly at the dealer, or a car buying service - the bottom line matters. And this deal is win.

Over half of Costco's members are small business owners (51%); not to mention that median income of members is nearly $108K.

And uhh, Costco sells $60K pearl strands, $71K diamond bracelets, $57K diamond stud earings; not to mention watches by Baume & Mercier, Concord, Chopard, etc.

Even if Costco sold the Genesis directly, I see absolutely nothing wrong w/ that.

 

[flyboy2]

I buy my Viagra at Costco. They take care of all my racing needs--