2012 Hyundai Equus owners manual
2012 Hyundai Equus luxury sedan dropping iPad owner’s manual! Hyundai CEO explains why.
Every new car comes with a nicely wrapped, shiny owner’s manual stored neatly in the glove compartment, but Hyundai took that a step further with the release of their luxury sedan, the Equus.
Instead of the standard paper manual, buyers of the Equus were given an iPad that had an owner’s manual app, complete with pictures, video, and a host of interactive features. The promotion proved very helpful in driving sales of the Equus, but anyone looking to buy one and score an iPad had better act fast, as it has been formally announced that the giveaway will not continue when the latest version of the Equus is released later this year.
The iPad app will still be available for download after the promotion ends, but it’s going to be interesting to see how buyers and Hyundai themselves react in the aftermath of this announcement. For the past year, car buyers have been force fed commercials touting the iPad giveaway, but precious little else about the actual performance of the Equus.
That will also mean that Hyundai will have to shift their focus and start letting consumers know what the vehicle has to offer now that the glitzy giveaway has been taken off the shelf.
When asked about the moratorium placed on the iPad giveaway, Hyundai spokesperson Jim Trainor said, “The iPads were only intended to be a one-year promotion for the Equus‘ first year of sales in the United States. The Equus iPad app will still be available for download on customers’ personal devices – the Apple product simply won’t be included with the purchase of the vehicle.”
Hyundai have made massive strides in the new car market over the past year, placing importance on design, quality and fuel efficiency to put their cars at the head of the market. It’s hard to believe that removing the iPad promotion will do anything to halt that progress, and it may in fact be a good thing for the Korean carmakers, allowing them to get away from talking about tablets, and speaking more about the other benefits of the 2012 Hyundai Equus luxury sedan.
