Hyundai's Own Dealers Just Accused It Of Lying About EV Sales

Hyundai's EVs like the Ioniq 5, Ioniq 6, and Kona have proven to be fairly popular with the EV adoption crown. However, according to a new report from Yahoo Finance, the legitimacy of that popularity might be coming into question. Reportedly, part of Hyundai's own dealership network in the United States is accusing the automaker of outright lying about sales figures. That's a big accusation. Chicago-area based Napleton Aurora Imports is the dealership network leading the lawsuit. 

The dealership alleges that Hyundai wouldn't allocate high-demand models to the dealership's sales lot unless it artificially boosted sales numbers for electric vehicles, per the report. Although exact details are still pending, that likely means that, according to the allegations, Napleton Aurora Imports wasn't getting Hyundai Santa Fes, Palisades, Elantras, and the like, unless it handed Hyundai a spoofed report for electric cars. Without anyone being the wiser, this would make both the dealerships and Hyundai look better on the outside. This is, of course, fraud.

On the Hyundai side of the fence, the automaker denies any wrongdoing and is taking a look into matters as well. As with all breaking news involving lawsuits, the details of the investigation won't be made known to the public until a verdict is reached and evidence is collated. Either way the legal pendulum swings, Hyundai should be working overtime to keep up its reputation and bring any skeletons to light before it feels the financial wrath of a hefty lawsuit.

While environmental goals are noble and a good cause to bring more EVs to automaker lineups, its sales numbers that ultimately keep electric cars on the market. If Hyundai is found to be fudging the numbers, that could mean that the automotive world isn't as far along to EV adoption as we all thought, at least for Hyundai. All that said, this just makes the job harder if Hyundai wants any chance of beating Tesla when it comes to mass market EVs.