After Hyundai, Kia India delivers a statement over Kashmir tweet

On Tuesday evening, Kia India issued a statement distancing itself from a tweet on the “fight for freedom in Kashmir” posted by a “independently-owned dealer” in Pakistan. Kia India, which has received a lot of controversy in India because of the abovementioned tweet, has labelled the social media posts as illegal.

Kia India stated in a statement that it has put in place strong controls to ensure that the Kia brand identification is not misappropriated in this way.

The Kashmir-related tweets from Hyundai, Kia, and Suzuki stores in Pakistan, as well as non-automotive businesses such as Pizza Hut, KFC, and others, sparked a rapid and severe outrage in India, with netizens demanding for a boycott.

The topic was also discussed in the Rajya Sabha, when Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal revealed that the Indian government has requested a better response from Hyundai following the South Korean company’s comments on Monday. This was followed by a reaction from Hyundai Motor, which reaffirmed, among other things, that Hyundai Motor India has no affiliation with the aforementioned Pakistani distributor.

Also Read Full Statement here:

https://arthparkash.com/english/hyundai-ind-faces-hatred-as-boycott-hyundai-trends-on-twitter

Both Kia India and Hyundai Motor stated in their respective comments that the brands do not engage in political, religious, or cultural topics as a matter of corporate policy.

Kia India has taken notice of unlawful social media posts posted on the dealer’s own accounts by an independently-owned dealer operating outside of the country. Since then, we’ve taken stringent precautions to prevent future misuse of the Kia brand, as well as set in place procedures to prevent it.

Kia has a firm policy of staying out of political and cultural debates. Our commitment to providing market-leading products and services to our loyal customers in India remains unchanged.

We apologies profusely for any offence caused by this unofficial social media activity.

 Suzuki Motor Corporation go issued extended an apology to the people of India in a statement released on Tuesday, which was also shared by Maruti Suzuki, while also emphasising that the abovementioned social media posts were not authorised by it. “Through its goods, services, ethical business behaviour, and social responsibility activities toward Sustainable Development Goals, Suzuki Motor Corporation strives to be a corporation trusted and relied upon by all throughout the world," the statement stated.

“We do not align with any political or religious leaning in any region of the world as a matter of corporate policy.” On these matters, such communication from our dealers or business colleagues does not represent our company’s position, nor is it authorised by us. We are extremely sorry for the damaged feelings generated by such inappropriate speech. It is going to happen.