VW CEO Secretly Taped Complaining About Hyundai i30 @ Frankfurt Show

[hl0m4n]

original link here

Watch Volkswagen’s CEO complain about Hyundai’s superior interior

"The world got treated to some old-school car business back at the Frankfurt show when VW CEO Martin Winterkorn inspected the competition at the Hyundai stand. He was not pleased.

Life got a lot more difficult for Winterkorn's underlings when their boss started to adjust the steering wheel of the i30 on display. "There's no rattle!" In some fairly colloquial German, Winterkorn put his whole staff on notice. He calls first one man by name, Klaus Bischoff, head of Volkswagen Brand Design and gives his blunt analysis. Glancing around he asks, "How'd he pull it off?" Bischoff is in some disbelief, and one of the VW suits around quickly comes to explain, sounding fairly rattled himself. There was a solution, he says, but it was too expensive. Witnerkorn wasn't having any of it. "Why can he do it? BMW doesn't know how, we don't know how. Rattling!"

Winterkorn beckoned for more underlings, immediately summoning a tape measure to check the sight lines around the Hyundai's a-pillars. When the employee next to him is having some trouble, Winterkorn, the head of what may soon be the biggest car company in the world, takes the tape measure himself, does his measurements, and gruffly compliments the Hyundai's interior. The nervous VW people around him could only offer excuses, trying to keep their boss happy, but Winterkorn remained stoic as ever. He stepped out of the car, looking deep in thought and his entourage quickly filed in, looking all the more agitated themselves after the episode.

Aside from how incredibly German it is that Winterkorn takes charge with a nearby tape measure, this is just one of those great looks into the hard as nails upper strata of the auto industry. I now imagine that meetings at the VW boardroom look suspiciously like the scenes where Darth Vader chokes that guy in the Death Star. What really wouldn't surprise us is if Hyundai themselves were the ones who shot and uploaded this video, just don't expect them to admit it."

[BMWinNorthdakota]

Not that I don't view Hyundai as the superior auto maker... BUTTT

......... The gentleman just said there is no rattle is present on the steering wheel (Adjuster??).

How this equates to him holding the opinion that the car is of superior quality is beyond me.

[Greenkirby21]

Originally Posted by BMWinNorthdakota

Not that I don't view Hyundai as the superior auto maker... BUTTT

......... The gentleman just said there is no rattle is present on the steering wheel (Adjuster??).

How this equates to him holding the opinion that the car is of superior quality is beyond me.

which is funny because my VW Rabbit had horrible rattles

[Tondtar]

He's got nothing to worry about since no matter what Hyundai does, in this country we still associate their brand and products with Rodney King.

[M3Bahn]

I think it's great to see a CEO who really cares and Hyundai is kicking some serious ass these days.

[E90SoFlo]

My steering wheel dosent rattle wtf.

[whip_lash]

What rattle? i dont get it... what steering wheel rattles anyways when you adjust it?

[Memphis1]

I honestly can't hear the conversation but I don't think they're saying what the translation says. I doubt Hyundais have better quality than VW.

[MisterSkiMask]

Originally Posted by Memphis1

I honestly can't hear the conversation but I don't think they're saying what the translation says. I doubt Hyundais have better quality than VW.

That all depends on your definition of quality, and as the saying goes, you never get a second chance to make a first impression. Even if the Hyundai catches fire after 15 miles, the people who are checking cars out in a showroom will have a better impression of a car that has no rattles vs one that does.

[Seminole]

My steering wheel adjuster doesn't rattle at all. It makes a single click sound when you unlatch it and then when it's relatched, that's all.

[3_runner]

Originally Posted by whip_lash

What rattle? i dont get it... what steering wheel rattles anyways when you adjust it?

Apparently VWs

[gary88]

Originally Posted by Memphis1

I doubt Hyundais have better quality than VW.

Have you seen the new Jetta? Not so great.

[Maestro]

what the CEO is saying from the sound of the telescoping wheel lock is that is more of a positive lock mechanism verse what most care use is a friction lock so was you release it the just hangs free or loose and you can get some sort of rattle. Not sure why they would care since you would not drive around with it in the non locked positions. Then again Germans tend to do analysis paralysis over things which may not be important.

His comment I think is how can a low end car deploy things like a positive locking feature on a low end car, there is engineering a cost to do this kind of thing. However, what he fails to understand is Hyundai just copies what every other company has done, they let the BWM, Merc, VW and Fords of the work do the engineering and they just copy it. They are so bad their Mini Van copied the Ford Windstar almost exactly, the headlight and taillight are exactly the same. I think the use the same companies to make their parts.

As other said, my BMW lock does not rattle either.

[Red Bread]

Originally Posted by Maestro

His comment I think is how can a low end car deploy things like a positive locking feature on a low end car, there is engineering a cost to do this kind of thing. However, what he fails to understand is Hyundai just copies what every other company has done, they let the BWM, Merc, VW and Fords of the work do the engineering and they just copy it. They are so bad their Mini Van copied the Ford Windstar almost exactly, the headlight and taillight are exactly the same. I think the use the same companies to make their parts.

This was true ten years ago, but take a look at the Velostar, or the Genesis coupe. I'd say that the Koreans have advanced their game a heck of a lot further over the last decade than the Germans, who collectively have taken a step back. Even with the recent price slashing at VW/Audi, I'd say that a similarly priced Korean car offers significantly higher quality materials and dare I say, engineering.

When Lexus and Infiniti launched, MB and BMW took forever to respond, it seems that VW might not make the same mistake with Hyundai/Kia.

[Blake]

You'll never catch me dead in a Hyundai by principle, but I will admit that Hyundai has stepped their game up tremendously over the years. Check out the Equos...it honestly gives the S class and 7 series a run for it's money in everything except performance and handling. Interior is solid, comfortable, and functional. You also can't argue with it's reliability and warranty. The exterior lines aren't bad either. Also, the genesis coupe. Another good Hyundai car. I have friends with a G coupe and they are great quality/performance for the price point. G coupe is definitely a viable competitor against VW and I would have one any day over a Honda.

[jpsum]

Originally Posted by Greenkirby21

which is funny because my VW Rabbit had horrible rattles

I have a 2011. 25k miles. No problem at all.

Originally Posted by whip_lash

What rattle? i dont get it... what steering wheel rattles anyways when you adjust it?

That's what I was trying to figure out. Didn't know rattling at the steering column was a wide spread issue.

Originally Posted by gary88

Have you seen the new Jetta? Not so great.

That's because Jettas are made in Mexico. My Golf is still made in the motherland.

[Red Bread]

Originally Posted by jpsum

That's because Jettas are made in Mexico. My Golf is still made in the motherland.

Too bad the quality ratings put Mexican made VW's ahead of German made VW's. MY South Carolina made BMW rattles less than my German made one.

[Blake]

Originally Posted by Red Bread

Too bad the quality ratings put Mexican made VW's ahead of German made VW's. MY South Carolina made BMW rattles less than my German made one.

i pretty much agree with everything you just said. where it's made rarely dictates the amount of rattles or quality. that stuff is purely in engineering. all those mexicans are doing is assembling parts to make a car. the germans are the ones producing the parts and engineering the car. same can be said about any other car out there.

[Inspired]

Volkswagon is one of the most unreliable car out there in the market..I would rather be in a Kia or Hyundai than in a VW. I don't understand why people would purchase a VW vs other brands..



Look at the 2011 JD power dependability study..VW is a joke..

http://www.jdpower.com/autos/ratings...ings-by-brand/

[Red Bread]

I like that you site a chart to attempt to trash Audi/VW, yet they're both ahead of BMW/MINI. I've never considered JD Power before buying a car, and have had various Audi and BMW products well into double digit years with limited issues. I've also had Japanese cars that spun main bearings at 24k miles and some that were great cars. Hyundai/Kia had a lot of room for improvement, but they've done a great job recently. BMW/MINI seems to be setting themselves up for a bit of a renaissance.

[Tuned1M]

My wife bought an Elantra limited and I'm impressed with the car. Not only is she averaging 40+ mpg, the car's fit and finish in my opinion is on par if not better than Jetta. The car is spacious for a compact car and it even has heated rear seats. Her touch screen Nav is good but the thing I stumbled on to last Sunday was a sports page on her nav which displays real time NFL scores. Sunday drives will never be the same! It also has a stock market page, weather page with live doppler and news page. Really cool stuff for a $23k car.

[NewYearsBoy]

Originally Posted by Greenkirby21

which is funny because my VW Rabbit had horrible rattles

So does my 135i...

Who ever made the center console for the 1 series should have been shot.