A warranty can be an important element of a product's vatue proposition. An cxpress warranty
is a written guarantee that assures the buyer that he or she is getting what he or she has paid for
or that provides recourse in case a product's performance falls short of expectations. In global
marketing, warranties can be used as a competitive tool fo position a compafry in a positive way.
For example, in the late 1990s Hyundai Motor America chief executive Finbarr O'Neill tealiznd
that many American car buyers perceived Korean cars as "cheap" and were skeptical about the
Hyundai nameplate's reliabiliry The company had made significant improvements in the quality
and reliability of its vehicles, but consumer perceptions of the brand had not kept pace with
the changes. O'Neill instituted a 10-year, 100,000-mile warranty program that represents the
most comprehensive coverage in the auto indusny. Concurrently, Hyundai launched several new
vehicles and increased expenditures for advertising. The results have been impressive: Hyundai's
U.S. sales jumped from about 90,000 vehicles in 1998 to more than 500,000 vehieles in 2011.
Hyundai has also overtaken Toyota as Europe's best-selling Asian car brand.