Toys ‘R’ Us Helps Hyundai Sell Cars

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By Douglas A. McIntyre Updated Published
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Toys ‘R’ Us Helps Hyundai Sell Cars

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Toys “R” Us is helping Hyundai sell its new Sonata. It is one of the novel ways the bankrupt retailer is trying to generate money outside its traditional business.

Toys “R” Us has put a sponsorship section on toysrus.com, where outside companies can buy advertising. While most of the ads are for products that shoppers can buy at Toys “R” Us, the South Korean car manufacturer has decided it is a good way to get customers for one of its best selling cars. Other ads in the section include “Go Go Smartwheels,” a child’s toy, and Lego.

The Hyundai ads on the Toys “R” Us website offer big discounts on the Sonata, up to $6,750, and are targeted by geography. The one New Yorkers see takes them to the website of a local dealer.

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One of the reasons Hyundai may have taken such a non-traditional route is the ugly drop in Sonata sales. The company sold 7,595 in October, down from 14,972 in the same period last year. For the first 10 months of the year, sales were down from 170,251 to 115,313. The Sonata is Hyundai’s second best selling vehicle.

The deal between the car manufacturer and toy retailer makes Toys “R” Us some money. Whether it helps Hyundai sell discounted cars is another matter. If it works, troubled Toys “R’ Us could become a car dealer.

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Photo of Douglas A. McIntyre
About the Author Douglas A. McIntyre →

Douglas A. McIntyre is the co-founder, chief executive officer and editor in chief of 24/7 Wall St. and 24/7 Tempo. He has held these jobs since 2006.

McIntyre has written thousands of articles for 24/7 Wall St. He is an expert on corporate finance, the automotive industry, media companies and international finance. He has edited articles on national demographics, sports, personal income and travel.

His work has been quoted or mentioned in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times, The Washington Post, NBC News, Time, The New Yorker, HuffPost USA Today, Business Insider, Yahoo, AOL, MarketWatch, The Atlantic, Bloomberg, New York Post, Chicago Tribune, Forbes, The Guardian and many other major publications. McIntyre has been a guest on CNBC, the BBC and television and radio stations across the country.

A magna cum laude graduate of Harvard College, McIntyre also was president of The Harvard Advocate. Founded in 1866, the Advocate is the oldest college publication in the United States.

TheStreet.com, Comps.com and Edgar Online are some of the public companies for which McIntyre served on the board of directors. He was a Vicinity Corporation board member when the company was sold to Microsoft in 2002. He served on the audit committees of some of these companies.

McIntyre has been the CEO of FutureSource, a provider of trading terminals and news to commodities and futures traders. He was president of Switchboard, the online phone directory company. He served as chairman and CEO of On2 Technologies, the video compression company that provided video compression software for Adobe’s Flash. Google bought On2 in 2009.

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