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Hyundai Suicide ‘Advert’ causes a rumpus

It’s not easy advertising your wares and finding the right balance between mainstream and innovative to capture attention, as Hyundai has found out to their cost with an ‘advert’ for the hydrogen powered ix35 FCEV which, rather distastefully, depicts a man trying to commit suicide by running a hose from the tailpipe to the cabin before realising he can’t achieve his aim as the FCEV’s only emissions are water. It’s a proper cock-up from Hyundai – usually so sure-footed with their PR – but, despite Hyundai US putting the blame at the door of Hyundai UK, there’s more to this suicide ‘advert’ than meets the eye. It seems the suicide video was put together by Innocean – a European Ad Agency owned by Hyundai’s Chairman Chung Mong-koo and his daughter, and responsible for much of Hyundai’s marketing output – and was a clumsy attempt to gauge reaction to the somewhat macabre take on the benefits of an FCEV.

Eterniti Motors sells first Eterniti Artemis at Beijing auto show

Eterniti Motors, which first showed us the Hemera super SUV concept in Frankfurt, then the production version--called the Artemis--in Beijing, sold its first car at the Chinese show. The company took five orders for the Eterniti Artemis, four in standard specification and one bespoke version. The standard Artemis SUV costs $337,500, converted from British pounds.

Saab SOLD to National Electric Vehicle Sweden

The Swedish press are reporting this morning that Saab administrators have agreed a deal to sell Saab to National Electric Vehicle Sweden. The Saab Saga has been going on so long it’s hard to think of it is a car maker any more. But that may be about to change.