Hyundai has launched a subscription service for its electrified models that it says covers all motoring costs.
Called Mocean, it wraps the price of subscription, insurance, maintenance, road tax, repairs and roadside assistance into one monthly fee. Contracts last for three to 24 months and start at £339 per month.
The service will be launched in Greater London this month before being rolled out to other cities in the UK later this year.
Any of Hyundai’s hybrid, plug-in hybrid and fully electric models can be selected.
Customers can change their car to a different model every six months or cancel their subscription with only a one-month notice period.
“We’re excited to launch Mocean here in the UK, giving us the opportunity to bring Hyundai’s range of advanced electrified vehicles to an entirely new type of customer,” said Hyundai UK boss Ashley Andrew.
“For those that a traditional PCP or HP agreement simply doesn’t suit or for those that want the simplicity of one monthly payment and the flexibility of a one-month cancellation period, Mocean delivers. For us, this new innovation marks the beginning of a journey from car manufacturer to mobility service provider."
Customers can activate the service completely online, choosing their model and the length of time they wish to use it for, before being given the option for it to be delivered to them directly or picked up from a dealership.
The service will contribute towards Hyundai’s strategy roadmap, in which the Korean manufacturer aims to develop into a 'smart mobility solution provider' by 2025.
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The employee then pays their subscription from gross income! Income tax, employee national insurance, and employer national insurance are all deducted from the monthly fee giving a huge tax saving. They then pay only 1% benefit in kind tax this year, and 2% next on a full EV.
In addition, employers are permitted to offer free EV charging to employees as a perk without incurring BIK tax.
Is £339 cheap? Using hyundai's own PCP calculator, that i20 covering 10k a year with £0 deposit costs £399. So it's no brainer already. And that's before you factor in road tax, insurance etc. That's why I was sceptical at first.
But even if you are buying at discounted prices, that £339 ( it's actually £319 according to their website ), depending on how much you pay for insurance, it could prove to be an incredible deal. It would be a good deal for a 70year old living in rural Scotland, but for a 70year old living in Birmingham or any other high risk area - happy days.
You can forget the maintenance and breakdown cover as that comes with most new cars for the first few years. Don't know about Hyundai but there is usually servicing offers on if you pay via PCP when buying a car ( i.e. Skoda offer first 2yr for £159 ). If you add up your insurance costs + servicing + road tax, I'm willing to bet that's one of the best deals you'll ever find buying a brand new car. The sceptic in me is asking what's the catch, but thus far I can't find it.
The alternative of course is knocking £3000 off the list price going thru a broker if you purchase via PCP. That amounts to £125 a month off list bringing the PCP price down from £399 to £274. That leaves £319 less £274 i.e. £45 a month to cover servicing + insurance + road tax. So even at broker prices, their Morcean deal will still work out better for the majority of folk.
'Convenience' deals typically work out more expensive, so on paper at least, this appears to be a game changer way of buying a new car. My 89year old father will be changing his car at the end of the year - if it has a tight fisted Scotsman interested, it must be a good deal !
ps The car pictured isn't what you get, you get an i20 for your £319, probably more depending on your insurance status, if you want an i20 for less than 3 years, if you do more than 10k miles a year etc.
As usual subscription services aren't so appealing after reading past the headline.