Hyundai India clarifies over tweet on Kashmir by their Pakistani arm
NEW DELHI: South Korean car manufacturer, Hyundai, got embroiled in a controversy after their arm in Pakistan tweeted on expressing their solidarity with Kashmir. This was tweeted on February 5 as Pakistan celebrates it as Kashmir solidarity day.
This led to a war of words on social media, where most people demanded that Hyundai shut shop in India. One person tweeted that he cancelled the booking of his Hyundai car and opted for a Honda instead.
In the midst of this row, Hyundai India has issued a clarification.
"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’s offending our unparalled commitment and service to this great country. India is a second home to the Hyundai brand and we have a zero-tolerance policy towards insensitive communication and we condemn any such views. As a part of our commitment to India, we will continue our efforts towards the betterment of the country as well as its citizens.’’
Hyundai sells the second-highest number of cars in India after Maruti and this backlash could dent their sales and exports.
Shiv Sena MP Priyanka Chaturvedi has tweeted, "so many wishy washy words are not needed. All you need to say is – we are unequivocally sorry.’’
The stakes for Hyundai are higher in India so they are naturally going to appease the Indian market and sentiment.
Against the 50 lakh cars that they sell in India (and nearly 10 lakh that they export) they sell less than 10,000 cars in Pakistan annually.