Indian Government Asks Hyundai To Be More Forceful In Apology For Pakistan Dealer's Post On Kashmir

Hyundai Motor India recently released a statement regarding the controversial tweet posted by a Hyundai Pakistan dealer supporting 'Kashmir Solidarity Day'. However, several Twitterati expressed their opinion that the South Korean carmaker wasn't unequivocal in its statement and asked for a more straightforward apology. Now similar views have been expressed by the Indian government. Piyush Goyal, Cabinet Minister for Textiles, Commerce and Industry has said that the Government of India "has asked the company to be more forceful in unequivocal apology."

Also Read: Hyundai Pakistan Dealer's Post On Kashmir Lands Hyundai India In A Soup, Automaker Issues Statement

The since deleted post was shared on Hyundai Pakistan's social media handle, which belongs to a dealer principal with outlets across Pakistan

On February 5, a Twitter account belonging to Hyundai Nishat Motor Pvt. Ltd, a dealer principal with outlets across Pakistan, had put out a post on 'Kashmir Solidarity Day,' supporting the separatists in Kashmir. The tweet went viral in no time, and it didn't take long for the hashtag #boycotthyundai to trend on the social media platform.

In response, Hyundai Motor India released an official statement, which said, "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. We have a zero-tolerance policy towards insensitive communication, and we strongly condemn any such view. As part of our commitment to India, we will continue our efforts towards the betterment of the country as well as its citizens."

Hyundai Motor statement:#Hyundai #HyundaiIndia pic.twitter.com/Ir5JzjS2XP

— Hyundai India (@HyundaiIndia) February 8, 2022

Now, Hyundai India has released a new statement, clearly defining the situation it is addressing and says that it has taken necessary actions. The company's latest statement says - "As a business policy, Hyundai Motor Company does not comment on political and religious issues in any specific region. Therefore, it is clearly against Hyundai Motor's policy that the independently-owned distributor in Pakistan made unauthorised Kashmir-related social media post from their own accounts." It added, "We have taken measures to ensure the distributor, which misused Hyundai brand identity, has removed the social media posts and we have put in place processes to prevent a future recurrence. Our subsidiary Hyundai Motor India, is not associated with the distributor in Pakistan, and we strongly reject the distributor's unauthoriesed non-business related social media activity."

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Hyundai India is not the first global carmaker, operating in both India and Pakistan, which has been caught in this controversy due to social media posts on 'Kashmir Day' posted by its Pakistani counterparts. Previously, Toyota Defence Motors in Pakistan had also posted a similar communication on its social media channels on February 5, 2021, and so did some other brands like Isuzu in the past.

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Toyota Defence Motors in Pakistan had also posted a similar creative on its social media channels on February 5, 2021, and so did Isuzu

Pakistani counterparts of a few other fast food brands like KFC, Domino's Pizza and Pizza Hut, had also released similar posts in the past, leading to boycott hashtags on social media.