VW Boss Martin Winterkorn on the new Hyundai i30: Nothing Rattles!

VW's Martin Winterkorn on the Hyundai i30

VW's Martin Winterkorn prods and pokes the new Hyundai i30

VW boss Martin Winterkorn, visiting the Hyundai stand at Frankfurt, spent five minutes poking round the new Hyundai i30 and declared ‘Nothing rattles’!

If you’re looking for a benchmark in quality mainstream cars, you can’t do a great deal better than cars from the VW group. From VW to Audi, Skoda to SEAT, VW knows how to bolt a car together so everything has a pleasing tactility.

So a visit by VW boss Martin Winterkorn to the Hyundai stand at the Frankfurt Motor Show could have been to see just how far the competition from Korea still has to go. You know the form; benign smiles, empty platitudes and a hidden smirk. But the visit all went a but Pete Tong for poor Herr Winterkorn.

Winterkorn can be seen planting himself in the driver’s seat of the new 2012 Hyundai i30 – with his entourage surrounding waiting for the platitudes – and proceeds to prod and poke anything to hand. But the mood quickly changes from benign benevolence to something approaching a dark cloud, as Winterkorn discovers just how well bolted together the new i30 is.

The coup de grâce for the i30 seems to be how well made the steering column adjustment is. Winterkorn has a play and calls over VW design boss Klaus Bischoff to try and explain why Hyundai can do it but VW can’t. Klaus Bischoff tries to explain the solution to the problem is too expensive, but Winterkorn wants to know why Hyundai can do it if that’s the case.

Winterkorn even gets his tape measure out to see if he can find some solace in the i30’s interior space, but after a push and a prod at the mirror and sun visor decides he’s had enough and stomps off.

Hyundai 1 : 0 VW.