‘Misuse of brand identity': Hyundai on ‘unauthorized’ Kashmir tweet
Hyundai Motor on Tuesday issued a statement in which it informed that it has taken strong exception to a Twitter post by a company distributor in Pakistan which mentioned ‘struggle for freedom in Kashmir.' Underlining that it refrains from commenting on political and religious issues as a business policy, Hyundai Motor also pointed that Hyundai Motor India is not associated with the distributor in Pakistan.
Hyundai and Hyundai Motor India, its subsidiary in the country, have been facing a massive backlash due to the post by a Hyundai Pakistan dealership on Kashmir. #BoycottHyundai had been trending on Twitter all of Monday. While Hyundai Motor India did issue a statement on Monday, many felt it wasn't an unequivocal apology. In Rajya Sabha on Tuesday, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal confirmed that the Indian government has asked the South Korean car company for a better response. (Read full report here)
In turn, Hyundai Motor issued a statement on the entire matter. “As a business policy, Hyundai Motor Company does not comment on political or religious issues in any specific region. Therefore it is clearly against Hyundai Motor's policy that the independently-owned distributor in Pakistan made unauthorized Kashmir-related social media posts from their own account," the statement read. “Once the situation was brought to our attention, we 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. Our subsidiary, Hyundai Motor India, is not associated with the distributor in Pakistan, and we strongly reject the distributor's unauthorized non-business related social media activity."
The statement further went on to highlight the company's long-standing association in India, one that started in the mid 1990s. “We strongly regret any offense caused to the people of India by this unofficial social media activity."
