Time was when any self-respecting banker would blow his (sic) bonus on a Maserati. Now the smart money is going on a Hyundai Sonata. In an industry where thousands of jobs are being shed each week it makes sense to buy from the Korean carmaker, as it offers a full refund if you get fired.

This is a fabulous way to boost the top line. Sales in the week after the deal was launched are 20 per cent up, year on year. It is also a cracking way to weaken the balance sheet. Hyundai Motor is good for up to $7,500 of negative equity per returned car in the US, which it says is fully covered by insurance contracts. But assume, say, 10 per cent of this year’s US sales are returned. That still leaves the problem of an extra 50,000-odd second-hand cars to shift, on top of the usual return of lease fleets. That makes them harder to sell and pushes down prices, reducing the value of collateral and possibly resulting in write-offs.