Hyundai India condemns controversial post on Kashmir after backlash, reiterates its commitment

NEW DELHI: South Korean automobile company Hyundai Motor India on Sunday condemned and distanced itself from the controversial Twitter post by Pakistan-based Hyundai Nishat Motor about remembering the “sacrifices of our Kashmiri brothers”, which Pakistan observes as ‘Kashmir Solidarity Day’ in Pakistan.

The second-largest carmaker with huge investment plans in the auto sector in India, Hyundai Motor India issued a statement on its official Twitter handle terming the post unsolicited and said that linking Hyundai Motor India with it was offending its unparalleled commitment and service to this great country. India is the second home to the Hyundai brand, it added.

On Sunday the microblogging site, Twitter was abuzz with the controversial tweet by Pakistan-based Hyundai Nishat Motor. It triggered a huge outrage amongst the Indian people trolling Hyundai in India as well, and many announced to give a second thought to buying Hyundai cars.

The #BoycottHyundai was trending on the top of Twitter on Sunday followed by #LataMangeshkar after the news of the death of India’s mega singing sensation passed away spread.

“Hyundai Motor India has been committed to the Indian market for more than 25 years now and we stand firmly for our strong ethos of respecting nationalism. The unsolicited social media post linking Hyundai Motor India is offending our unparalleled commitment and service to this great country. India is second home to the Hyundai brand and we have zero-tolerance policy towards insensitive communication and we strongly condemn any such view,” stated a Hyundai Motor India statement.

“As part of our commitment to India, we will continue our efforts towards the betterment of the country as well as its citizens,” it added.

It’s mention-worthy here that recently Hyundai had announced an Rs. 4000 crore investment in the Electric Vehicles sector, which will give mass employment to the Indian youths as well as help boost the Indian economy further.

The controversial tweet seems to be a politically motivated move and a handy work of the management or the staff of the collaborator Nishat Mills in total ignorance of the South Korean side. Apparently not knowing the serious repercussions of the tweet, the Hyundai staff must have been kept out of confidence while posting this tweet as present in 200 countries South Korean auto giant would not have endorsed it especially keeping in mind its highest stake in India. Hyundai sold over five lakh cars in India last year while Pakistan registered a meager sale of about 8,000 cars during this period.

It is well known, that Hyundai returned to Pakistan in 2017 and signed an investment agreement with the Ministry of Industries and Production, Pakistan government, which is at the loggerheads with India on the issue of Kashmir.

The intent of the Pakistan government seemed to dissuade the Japanese-dominated car market as Japan is very close to India with very high business and political stakes.

Hyundai Nishat is the authorized assembler and manufacturer of Hyundai vehicles in Pakistan and began production from its Faisalabad plant in 2019.

Hyundai went to Pakistan in 2017 by partnering with Nishat Mills, a subsidiary of Nishat Group. Hyundai used to assemble cars in Pakistan until 2004 when it did not work out well with their local partner Dewan Farooque Motors.

Hyundai Nishat Motor signed an investment agreement with the Ministry of Industries and Production under the Automotive Development Policy 2016-21.

However, after the outrage on social media, the controversial post was brought down by HyundaiPakistanOfficial (@PakistanHyundai), the official Twitter handle of Hyundai Nishat Motor (Pvt.) Ltd. in Pakistan blocked the access to it by the people in India saying, “These Tweets are protected. Only approved followers can see @PakistanHyundai’s Tweets.”