Daimler has described as “inappropriate” a spoof advertisement that shows a Mercedes-Benz C-class sedan running over a young Adolf Hitler.

The 80-second video clip was created by students at Germany’s Ludwigsburg film academy.

It shows a C class deliberately driving at the dictator as a boy in his birthplace, Braunau am Inn, Austria.

The film is intended to demonstrate what the car’s Collision Prevent Assist might do if it could think. It shows the sedan braking to avoid one group of children before hitting the young Hitler.

An onscreen subtitle then appears with the words: “Mercedes Benz — automatic braking system — detects dangers before they arise.”

“Mercedes sells its cars on smart technology which prevents accidents — we wanted to pose the question of what might happen if technology had a soul,” Tobias Haase, the video’s director, told Germany’s dpa.

The film makes clear in a disclaimer that it is not linked to the carmaker.

Daimler, however, is not amused by the clip. “We believe it is entirely inappropriate to use the death of a person/child or contents related to National Socialism in an advertising spot, even though it is a fictitious spot,” Daimler said in a statement.