Muristek
Hyundai regrets offence caused to people of India after backlash on Pakistan distributor's Kashmir tweet
New Delhi, February 8
South Korean auto major Hyundai Motor Company on Tuesday regretted the offence caused to Indians by "unauthorised Kashmir-related social media posts" by its distributor in Pakistan and said the action was against its global policy.
On Sunday, Hyundai Motor India had faced backlash on social media, after a dealer of Hyundai in Pakistan posted a message supporting separatists in Kashmir, and #BoycottHyundai trended on Twitter in India with many people asking to stop buying the company's products in the country.
A Twitter account of a Hyundai dealer in Pakistan with handle @hyundaiPakistanOfficial had posted a message supporting Kashmir Solidarity Day, supporting what it called as "struggle for freedom".
"As a business policy, Hyundai Motor Company does not comment on political or religious issues in any specific region. Therefore, it is clearly against the Hyundai Motor's policy that the independently owned distributor in Pakistan made unauthorised Kashmir-related social media posts from their own accounts," the company said in a statement posted on social media.
Stressing that Hyundai Motor Company had been investing in India for decades and "remains strongly committed to Indian customers", it said, "We deeply regret any offence caused to the people of India by this unofficial social media activity."
The company said once the situation was brought to its attention, it made the distributor acutely aware of the "inappropriateness of the action".
"We have since taken measures to ensure the distributor which misused the Hyundai brand identity has removed the social media posts and we have put in place processes to prevent a future recurrence," the statement said.
Clarifying that its subsidiary, Hyundai Motor India, is not associated with the distributor in Pakistan, the company said, "We strongly reject the distributor's unauthorised non-business-related social media activity."
Hyundai Motor India is the second-largest carmaker in the country after Maruti Suzuki India. It currently sells 12 models, including Creta and Venue in the domestic market.