Porsche 911 Fuel Oil Gauge on 2040-parts.com

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.

Volkswagen reveals e-Golf and e-Up! before Frankfurt motor show debut

Volkswagen has just released details on the e-Golf and e-Up! before their 2013 Frankfurt motor show debuts. The two cars are essentially pre-production examples of pure-electric vehicles that VW will start building just a short time from now.

One Lap of the Web: a lap of the 'Ring, a lap of the YouTubes and a lap of the eBays

-- The Porsche 918 achieved a spectacular and borderline-unbelievable time just a few days ago, but here are some less heroic cars lapping the 'Ring, like Peugeot 205s, modern BMWs and a few bikes mixed in for good measure. Check out the classic Heckflosse (fintail) Mercedes-Benz at 2:05. -- Filmmaker Casey Neistat filmed, umm, a pretty good commercial for the new Mercedes-Benz CLA, but it's the making-of video that's even more fun to watch.