Hyundai's mooted seven-year warranty has hit a speed bump – and not the result of anything happening in Australia.
Plans to extend Hyundai Australia's new-car warranty from five to seven years have hit the brakes amid uncertainty around tariffs announced by US President Donald Trump.
The South Korean car giant was on the verge earlier this year of matching sibling Kia with a seven-year/unlimited-kilometre warranty, 26 years after becoming the first brand to offer five years of coverage.
Hyundai Australia CEO Don Romano told Drive said the extension is in a "holding pattern" as Donald Trump negotiates with world powers, including South Korea, on deals to minimise tariffs.
His remarks were given hours before South Korea and the US agreed on a 15 per cent tariff last week, though there is still much that could change in the agreement between the countries.
"The first step is we've got to resolve our tariff issue, which is the biggest concern of the company right now ... We have to stay in a holding pattern until that issue gets resolved because that will affect everything globally.
"It's not just a US issue. The US being the largest market in the world, so it's going to have an impact.
"But our goal is obviously to produce a warranty that is competitive with our main competitors – and as soon as we can.
"I think that would be predicated on the resolution between South Korea and the US as a first step ... but at this point there are no timelines or plans to change our warranty until all these other issues get resolved."
Kia's move to a seven-year warranty has since been followed by a wave of brands from different parts of the globe, from Skoda to Chinese entrants such as MG and GWM.
Executives have acknowledged it remains "number three or number four in importance" for buyers when purchasing a Kia.
The longest new-car warranties in Australia are offered by Nissan, MG and Mitsubishi, which offer up to 10 years of coverage – and 200,000km, 250,000km and 300,000km limits, respectively.
However, they require customers to service within each manufacturer's dealer network to unlock the full decade of coverage, a move the brands say is to ensure maintenance is carried out to a standard that gives them the confidence to back the vehicle's longevity.
Should customers service outside the dealer network just once, coverage drops to five years/100,000km for Mitsubishi, five years/unlimited kilometres for Nissan, and seven years/unlimited kilometres for MG.
The MG warranty previously lacked this condition, but a change from July 1, 2025, means China's Omoda Jaecoo has the longest warranty without a dealer servicing clause, at eight years/unlimited kilometres.
Alex Misoyannis has been writing about cars since 2017, when he started his own website, Redline. He contributed for Drive in 2018, before joining CarAdvice in 2019, becoming a regular contributing journalist within the news team in 2020. Cars have played a central role throughout Alex’s life, from flicking through car magazines at a young age, to growing up around performance vehicles in a car-loving family. Highly Commended - Young Writer of the Year 2024 (Under 30) Rising Star Journalist, 2024 Winner Scoop of The Year - 2024 Winner
