[THE INVESTOR] Jaguar Land Rover Korea, the Korean unit of the UK luxury carmaker, is considering legal action against Ticket Monster, a local daily-deal site that recently sold 20 Jaguar cars on its online website.

“We are selling cars in Korea through nine official dealers only. We have never discussed selling cars through a social commerce site,” said an official of Jaguar Land Rover Korea. “We are considering legal action for damage to our brand value and image and consumer confusion.”

 

On Aug. 8, Ticket Monster, one of the nation’s top three daily-deal sites, put up for sale 20 units of Jaguar’s XE compact sedan, offering a whopping 7 million won (US$6,400) discount from their retail prices. The cars, priced at 47 million won to 48 million won depending on trims, were sold out in three hours.

Some second-hand car dealers operate online stores but it was the first time that pricey brand-new cars have been sold online here.

Ticket Monster said it sold the cars in a partnership with SK Encar, the used-car business unit of SK Group. 

"SK Encar discussed the issue with Aju Networks (an official Jaguar dealer). All the discussions were carried out legally," the company said in a statement.  

Amid skepticism among luxury car dealers about online sales, industry watchers say it seems unavoidable for them to face stiffer competition with online rivals offering cheaper prices.

By Lee Ji-yoon (jylee@heraldcorp.com)