Volkswagen blames salesclerks for gaffe

By Park Si-soo

Volkswagen Korea has been accused of using a dubious marketing tactic which could subject the German carmaker to scrutiny from the Fair Trade Commission (FTC).

According to FTC officials, Volkswagen texted messages of price increases for its cars to registered visitors to the firm’s showrooms in Seoul and Gyeonggi Province last month.

The message explained an across-the-board price hike for all vehicles by 2 percent in June, thus encouraging them to buy cars before the increase kicked in.

However, the carmaker’s Korean unit froze its price tags this month.

Some had actually purchased cars last month in hopes of beating the price increases.

Consumer advocates are calling for an FTC investigation.

A Volkswagen Korea spokeswoman called the case a “minor blunder” by sales agents, denying any involvement of the firm’s decision-makers.

“We once considered increasing the price in June and dropped the plan for some reason,” she told The Korea Times by phone. “Such a discussion seemed to have leaked to some sales agents, and they attempted to cash in on the information.”

She did not reveal the number of people who had received the controversial message. She added the firm has no compensation plan for those who bought new cars after being inspired by the message.

“We will try hard to prevent this from happening again,” the spokeswoman said.