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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.

2014 Volkswagen Polo now on sale – price from £11,100 to £19,715

The facelifted 2014 VW Polo (pictured) is now on sale The 2014 facelift for the VW Polo was revealed back in January and, although the cosmetic tweaks were the usual facelift fodder – tweaked bumpers and grill, new lights, new alloys and interior updates – the big changes came under the bonnet. New 3-cylinder engines arrive for the Polo with two new 1.0 litre petrols with 60PS or 75 PS, two 1.2 litre petrols with 90 or 110PS and and extra 10-PS for the 1.4 litre, which also gets cylinder deactivation. The diesel BlueMotion also gets dropped in favour of a petrol BlueMotion offering 68.9mpg from its 1.0 litre 3-pot and there’s a pair of 1.4 litre diesels with 75 or 90PS replacing the old 1.2 and 1.6 litre diesels.

Winter warriors: An AW list of vehicles in which to tackle the snow

Now that cold weather has arrived in many parts of the country, the Corvette Stingrays and Plymouth Barracudas are being tucked back into their garages. With that in mind, AutoWeek offers this list of sure-footed rides for the winter. Some have higher sticker prices--we're looking at you, Range Rover--but most are fun, economical rides that will get you through the deepest doldrums of winter.