Hyundai has held the 15th biennial World Skill Olympics - a global competition for the brand's service and repair technicians - at its Global Learning Center (GLC) in Cheonan, South Korea.
What is the World Skill Olympics?
The first Global Skill Olympics was held in 1995, and it takes place every two years. The idea is that it allows technicians (we don't call them mechanics anymore - the job is far more complex now) from Hyundai dealerships around the world to come together to demonstrate their skills and exchange technical knowledge.
Where do the technicians come from?
According to Hyundai, from all over the world. Competitors went to Korea from Europe, the Middle East, Latin America and Southeast Asia, with 75 outstanding technicians from 50 countries, earning their spots through regional qualifiers.
Hyundai Motor conducted evaluations in three categories: internal combustion engine vehicles, electric vehicles and commercial vehicles.
What kind of things do they do?
They're asked to fix cars, mostly, and to do so both quickly and as perfectly as they can. The contests also now include virtual reality based assessments, especially for more dangerous tasks such as work on electric vehicle batteries, which would be difficult to do for real in a competition environment.
As well as making the competition safer, the VR element can then be rolled back directly into Hyundai's training programmes.
So who won this year?
The overall winner was Dovydas Cole from the US, but there were also winners in each category, with the top three in categories, and the overall top three, taking home gold, silver and bronze trophies, as well as cash prizes. There was also a congratulatory video message from José Muñoz, President and CEO of Hyundai Motor Company.