It's common practice for car manufacturers to test out prototype mules in real-world conditions before launching the final product to the market. But in this case, Hyundai may have “accidentally” taken things a bit too far.
The next-generation Hyundai Verna, otherwise known as the Accent, is set to have its global debut this month. Since the sedan isn't out on the market yet, it hasn't had its NCAP safety tests either. That said, an unfortunate event showed the new Accent's body integrity when the test mule crashed into the back of a bus somewhere in South Korea.
While there are very scarce details of what caused the accident, the picture shows the test mule received extensive damage on its front end, but it's unlikely to have caused major injuries to its passengers as the cabin looked intact.
Furthermore, the Accent test mule looks like an entry-level variant that's devoid of ADAS features, since it's wearing steel wheels. If it was a top-of-the-line model with ADAS, the automatic emergency braking (AEB) could have prevented this type of accident from happening.
AEB is included in Hyundai's Smartsense features, which higher variants of the Accent are likely to get when it debuts in India this March 21.
Source: Rushlane
