Baboons likely don't know one car from another, but a dozen of the monkey seemed to have a good time recently when turned loose to frolic in a Hyundai i30 park in Britian's Knowsley Safari park.
Hyundai used the keen marketing approach to test the durability of the car known as the Hyundai Elantra wagon. The baboons acted liked . . . baboons.
"At Hyundai, we believe in thinking differently, so we decided to give a new approach to this test of durability," said Felicity Wood, product manager at Hyundai i30.
Many of the monkeys chose to play in the trunk, and most of them dirtied the interior and scratched exterior paint.
"The fact that the car survived with only a few scrapes is testament to the quality with which the new Hyundai is built, said Wood. "The monkeys proved that cars a really designed ultra strong!'
A Hyundai spokesman said will be analyzed and some of the findings test will be used to improve future models.
Hyundai donated $1,600 to the Primate Society of Great Britain, an organization dedicated to the preservation and care of different species of primates.
Article Last Updated: May 25, 2012.
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A sports, travel and business journalist for more than 45 years, James has written the new car review column The Weekly Driver since 2004.
In addition to founding this site in 2004, James writes a Sunday automotive column for The San Jose Mercury and East Bay Times in Walnut Creek, Calif., and monthly auto review and wellness columns for Gulfshore Business, a magazine in Southwest Florida.
An author and contributor to many newspapers, magazines and online publications, co-hosted The Weekly Driver Podcast from 2017 to 2024.
