Hyundai creates history - i10 Delhi to Paris drive successfully culminates in Paris
10 countries, 10,000 kilometres, 17 gruelling days
New Delhi, India Tuesday October 7, 2008 (DriveInside.com)
Hyundai Motor India Ltd, the second largest passenger car manufacturer and the largest passenger car exporter in the country, successfully culminated its i10 Delhi to Paris drive in Paris on 29th September, 2008. Through this drive, Hyundai has once again demonstrated the outstanding performance of its technically superior Kappa engine in terms of fuel economy and reliability. One of the two i10’s driven to Paris is showcased in the Hyundai Motor pavilion at the currently on going Paris Motor Show.
The cars were received amidst much fanfare and cheer in Paris, where automobile experts and fans from across the world made a bee line for the next few days to witness the much admired Hyundai i10 in the highly acclaimed Paris Motor Show 2008.
Commenting on the successful completion of the Delhi – Paris drive, H S Lheem, MD, HMIL, said, “Completing the Indian and European leg of the Delhi to Paris drive was the most historic and amazing thing in the Indian automotive industry. It impressively showed the potential and truly rendered the qualities of our high-tech Kappa engine more tangible. The culmination is the celebration of a lot of hard work from the entire Hyundai team across different regions. We are delighted at the success of the drive and are happy that months of meticulous planning has finally paid off.”
The unique transcontinental drive was flagged off from the national capital on 10th September, 2008 by Olympic Gold Medallist Abhinav Bindra. After traversing 10,000 km through 10 countries spanning across 17 gruelling days, the two Hyundai i10s achieved what seemed like an impossible feat for any car in its segment, reaching Paris without a single technical glitch on the entire stretch of its journey.
The drive, fondly called ‘i Drive to Paris’, reached Paris, its final destination, with the landmark ‘Arc de Triomphe’ in Paris as the background on the evening of September 29, 2008. It is only incidental that the Hyundai i10’s touched upon both the India Gate in New Delhi and Arc de Triomphe in Paris, which are both monuments build to salute the war heroes of both the nations.
The drive took more than a fortnight to be completed & traversed the international borders of 10 countries including India, Turkey, Italy, Greece, Austria, Slovakia, Hungary Poland, The Czech Republic and Germany to culminate in Paris, France. Driving along the route were well known automobile journalist from both the TV and print media who drove on different legs. The event was co-sponsored by Hyundai partners Mobis, Shell, Bridgestone, Mando and HSBC.