Tesla has come under fire on social media for leveraging the tragic death of a toddler to help sell a new model intended for families.
The electric car brand has published a video on social media platforms including Instagram and X showing that power folding seats in the Tesla Model Y can detect an obstruction – in this case, a toy rubber duck – and reverse course to avoid damaging it.
The clip comes a few weeks after the tragic death of a young girl in the US, who was crushed by a faulty electric seat mechanism in a Hyundai Palisade.
The high-profile incident made global news as Hyundai stopped sales of the model while working to find a solution.
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Australian motoring journalist and founder of CarExpert, Paul Maric, wrote on Instagram that “posting this after a two year old child was tragically crushed and killed by a faulty electric folding seat in March is in incredibly poor taste”.
“I’m hoping this wasn’t done intentionally as a selling point – if so that’s f’ed,” he said.
When asked whether the video was intended to address the Hyundai tragedy, a spokesman for Tesla Australia said that “the video with the duck is to demonstrate that the seats, and boot react to an object that causes an obstruction and therefore minimises the risk of personal injury”.
A caption posted with the clip reiterates that the seats “will automatically pop back up”.
Tesla fans on social media did not miss Tesla’s comparison with what they described as “the Hyundai Palisade trash compactor”, telling other users that “If you care about your children’s safety, buy Tesla over Hyundai”, and that in the tragic case of the Palisade, “the parents bought the wrong car”.
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“You’d have to be cruel or completely heartless to be okay with having a child crushed under a powered folding seat. If you’re not a monster, buy Tesla over Hyundai,” another person said.
Hyundai is expected to announce a recall addressing the Palisade’s power folding seat issue in the near future.
Until then, parents have been warned to be extremely vigilant when children are inside the car.
