Ask The Money Coach

By Lynnette Khalfani-Cox, The Money Coach

I find it quite interesting that more and more foreign auto makers are feeling America’s pain. And they’re trying to capitalize on the angst of the American consumer too.

Recently, Hyundai announced a new deal to ease the minds of Americans worried about layoffs. Under the deal, Hyundai will allow car buyers who get a pink slip within one year of purchasing a Hyundai to return the vehicle.

Today, I heard a radio ad from Mitsubishi roasting the $700 billion federal bailout package for the financial industry. The ad said that while Congress is busy “bailing out Wall Street” and writing a check “with 12 zeros behind it,” the Japanese auto company had a bailout plan of its own for struggling consumers. Mitsubishi is offering consumers a “Zero Down” deal and financing from Mitsubishi to drive off the lot with a new car. “All you need,” the ad said, “is your signature.”

Ad Campaigns Touch a Nerve

Both the Hyundai and Mitsubishi offers are pretty savvy marketing strategies.

Hyundai’s campaign touches a nerve considering 11 million Americans are out of a job and hundreds of thousands more layoffs are expected in the next few months. Today alone, several companies announced major job cuts, totaling nearly  50,000 lost positions, including 2,000 announced layoffs at General Motors.

The Mitsubishi initiative clearly plays on the fact that most Americans did not support a bailout of the financial industry, and many also opposed billions of dollars going to American auto makers. Mitsubishi – in launching this somewhat unorthodox ad campaign – is trying of course to sell more cars. But the car maker is also trying to pose its own answer to the question millions of Americans have been asking, which is: “Where is my bailout?” Needless to say, this kind of in-your-face advertising is also taking an indirect jab at competing U.S. car makers Ford, Chrysler, and GM, all of whom went to Congress asking for money with hat in hand.

So should you buy a Hyundai or a Mitsubishi if you’re in the market for a new car? That’s up for you to decide – given your own personal tastes and budget. But one thing is certain:

U.S. auto makers better act fast if they want to catch up to their foreign competitiors, and tap into Americans’ growing unease about their financial situation.

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 Lynnette Khalfani-Cox, The Money Coach is a personal finance expert, speaker, and author of numerous books on personal finance. She appears frequently as an expert commentator on television, radio and in print.

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