Photo: @MateenOmair via Twitter | Edited
Hyundai has been caught red-handed by the owner of a Tesla Model 3 who rented the car on Turo. According to his story, the Korean carmaker has used the Tesla to train salespeople, comparing it side-by-side with a Hyundai Ioniq 6.
Hyundai is preparing to launch the Ioniq 6 in the U.S. this summer and has priced it to undercut the segment leader Tesla Model 3. Despite its questionable design, Hyundai sees the Ioniq 6 as a worthy rival for the Model 3, thanks to the strengths of the E-GMP platform. Ioniq 6’s state-of-the-art aerodynamics and 800-volt architecture helped it become one of the most efficient electric vehicles in the U.S. market.
We have no doubt that Hyundai has disassembled a Tesla Model 3 and did its best to give the Ioniq 6 a fighting chance. Carmakers benchmark rival models all the time, and for smaller players, reverse engineering is said to be the most sincere form of flattering. As an automotive journalist, I’m also used to seeing little guys with measuring tapes and cameras documenting every little component of a new model during motor shows. After all, that’s where most Chinese car brands started.
Hyundai is already an accomplished carmaker, but Tesla is the leader of the EV market, and its cars are still something to look up to. That’s why I’m not surprised to read that a Tesla Model 3 owner discovered that Hyundai used his car for benchmarking against the Ioniq 5. The strange story shared on Twitter starts with him renting his Model 3 on Turo. At that time, he had no idea a Hyundai employee rented the car. Soon after that, he started receiving numerous alerts on the phone that all the doors were open for days.
He became curious and accessed the car’s cameras, noticing his Model 3 was sitting in what appeared to be a conference room. The Hyundai logo was present on some of the materials in the room, and that was a conversation starter, as you can imagine. He talked to the guy who rented his car and learned that Hyundai used his Tesla to train salespeople in preparation for the Ioniq 6 sales start.
The Turo guest was very communicative and revealed that the car was analyzed in detail and everything was measured. People of different sizes sat inside so that Hyundai employees learn how to promote the Ioniq 6 against the Tesla. The guest allegedly said the Korean EV has a more spacious passenger compartment, but Hyundai had to shrink the frunk and the trunk to achieve this. The two cars were compared side-by-side, as revealed in one of the pictures extracted from the Sentry cameras.
We can say that @MateenOmair was lucky that his car was used for sales training. In another case, Mercedes-Benz rented a Tesla Model X six years ago and dismantled it to learn its secrets. According to an Auto Motor und Sport article, the German carmaker returned the Tesla with five-digit damages after it was driven across much of Europe.
We have no doubt that Hyundai has disassembled a Tesla Model 3 and did its best to give the Ioniq 6 a fighting chance. Carmakers benchmark rival models all the time, and for smaller players, reverse engineering is said to be the most sincere form of flattering. As an automotive journalist, I’m also used to seeing little guys with measuring tapes and cameras documenting every little component of a new model during motor shows. After all, that’s where most Chinese car brands started.
Hyundai is already an accomplished carmaker, but Tesla is the leader of the EV market, and its cars are still something to look up to. That’s why I’m not surprised to read that a Tesla Model 3 owner discovered that Hyundai used his car for benchmarking against the Ioniq 5. The strange story shared on Twitter starts with him renting his Model 3 on Turo. At that time, he had no idea a Hyundai employee rented the car. Soon after that, he started receiving numerous alerts on the phone that all the doors were open for days.
He became curious and accessed the car’s cameras, noticing his Model 3 was sitting in what appeared to be a conference room. The Hyundai logo was present on some of the materials in the room, and that was a conversation starter, as you can imagine. He talked to the guy who rented his car and learned that Hyundai used his Tesla to train salespeople in preparation for the Ioniq 6 sales start.
The Turo guest was very communicative and revealed that the car was analyzed in detail and everything was measured. People of different sizes sat inside so that Hyundai employees learn how to promote the Ioniq 6 against the Tesla. The guest allegedly said the Korean EV has a more spacious passenger compartment, but Hyundai had to shrink the frunk and the trunk to achieve this. The two cars were compared side-by-side, as revealed in one of the pictures extracted from the Sentry cameras.
We can say that @MateenOmair was lucky that his car was used for sales training. In another case, Mercedes-Benz rented a Tesla Model X six years ago and dismantled it to learn its secrets. According to an Auto Motor und Sport article, the German carmaker returned the Tesla with five-digit damages after it was driven across much of Europe.
Upon return i asked the person, I’m curious why did you have the car just sitting with doors/trunks opening/closing? He smirked and said “Training”. Then he said at Hyundai.
— ????FSD & Chill?? (@MateenOmair) March 23, 2023
I didn’t mention i already looked at it’s whereabouts. ???? pic.twitter.com/lpI5eTlaZl
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