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Volkswagen pranked by rival Fiat

By Suzannah Hills

It has caught many people out in embarrassing situations - capturing a naked woman outside her home in Brazil, a man urinating in France and a seagull stealing a chip in Britain. And now cheeky staff at Fiat headquarters in Sweden have used Google Street View to get one over on their arch rivals Volkswagen.

Fiats workers spotted the Google Street view car, which captures panoramic views of locations around the world with a roof camera, driving past its offices and quickly drove to Södertälje 45 minutes away to Volkswagen's head office.

Cheeky: A red Fiat 500 parked directly outside the Volkswagen headquarters in Sodertalje, Sweden, is captured by Google Street View

A staff member driving a red Fiat 500 car - its latest model - then parked right in front of the Volkswagen's Swedish headquarters' front entrance just as the Google street view car drove past. If you now Google street view the Södertälje Volkswagen headquarters, you will see the red Fiat parked directly under the Volkswagen sign, with the staff inside completely unaware of what is happening.

The Fiat 500 can be seen driving up the road in various street view scenes but then suddenly disappears - reappearing right outside Volkswagen's main entrance. The car can then be spotted making a hasty getaway - driving away from the building and up the road.

Volkswagen will now have to put up with its new role as a virtual Fiat showroom for at least a year - the usual period it takes for Google to update its street views. Its images are recorded from a fleet of specially-equipped vehicles and Where roads are inaccessible, such as fields or pedestrianised streets, the online visual map uses Google Trikes and snowmobiles.

© Daily Mail, London

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