More than 1,000 Hyundai vehicles are currently being used for ground transportation at the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil.
As one of the World Cup’s official partners, the South Korean vehicle manufacturer delivered 1,021 sedans, sports utility vehicles (SUVs), and vans to be used as official transportation during the tournament.
Hyundai has also decorated the 32 official national team buses with the winning slogans from its ‘Be there with Hyundai’ competition.
“We are proud to partner with FIFA for this exciting football event,” said William Lee, president of Hyundai Motor Brasil (HMB).
“We believe that our football engagement has been playing a vital role in connecting global customers to our brand. In particular, we will do our best to make the 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil one of the most spectacular FIFA World Cup games in history,” he added.
Before the tournament kicked off last week, Hyundai Motor held an official handover ceremony for the cars at Arena de Sao Paulo. The fleet features a selection of Hyundai’s Equus, Genesis, Azera, Santa Fe, Sonata, Tucson (ix35), Veloster, H1, and H100 models. Also included in the line-up is Hyundai’s HB20 subcompact car, manufactured in Brazil exclusively for the domestic market.
“A flawless transport operation is critical to the success of the FIFA World Cup,” said FIFA’s secretary general, Jérôme Valcke.
“We are delighted to have the support of our partner Hyundai Motor, whose provision of the fleet vehicles ensures that all event participants, and crucially the teams, travel in style and comfort,” he commented.
In addition to the competition slogans, the 32 team buses have been decorated with their respective national colours and flags. As part of Hyundai’s exclusive sponsorship privileges, each bus is being escorted by a specially-decorated Grand Santa Fe SUV.
To support its fleet, Hyundai Motor has deployed service teams to all World Cup stadiums and FIFA facilities. Prior to the delivery, HMB’s service team trained over 1,000 drivers to become familiar with each model, as well as to learn about maintenance, safe driving techniques, and routes.
Since Hyundai Motor signed its 1999 sponsorship agreement with FIFA, the company has served as its official partner during the 2002, 2006, 2010 World Cups. Following on from Brazil, the deal will also extend to the Russia 2018 and Qatar 2022 tournaments.
