Hyundai IND faces hatred, as boycott Hyundai trends on Twitter

Hyundai was chastised in India after a company's dealer in Pakistan shared solidarity messages on social media over Kashmir.

A Twitter account of a Hyundai dealer in Pakistan with handle @hyundaiPakistanOfficial had posted a message supporting ‘Kashmir Solidarity’ day, supporting what it called as “struggle for freedom”. The caption was posted beside a picture of the Dal Lake with the word “Kashmir” printed in yellow across the top and barbed wires on top.

A Facebook post, too, was made sharing the poster. Both the Twitter and Facebook posts were later removed by the company. However, the posts were later removed.

Pakistan observes February 5 as ‘Kashmir Solidarity Day’ to show its support for the separatist movement in Kashmir.

However, in India, #BoycottHyundai began trending on Twitter, with many criticizing the company’s social media posts on ‘Kashmir Solidarity Day.’ Over 67,000 tweets about the issue outnumbered tweets about legendary singer Lata Mangeshkar’s death.

The Twitter accounts for Hyundai Pakistan and Hyundai India have been made private, and the tweets were secured. Some Twitter users claim that Hyundai India has blocked them because of their tweets.

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

After Maruti Suzuki India, Hyundai Motor India is the country’s second-largest automobile manufacturer. In the domestic market, it now sells 12 models, including the Creta and Venue. The manufacturer revealed plans to invest roughly Rs 4,000 crore in around six electric vehicles in India by 2028 in December of last year.

Over the next few years, the business plans to release a mix of models based on its current lineup as well as wholly new cars built on its worldwide platform ‘E-GMP.’

Several angry Twitter users said that they will cancel their reservations with the South Korean automaker and instead utilize Indian vehicle companies. Other Indian Twitter users sent screenshots of the Hyundai India Twitter account blocking them for objecting to Hyundai Pakistan’s tweet.

Hyundai Motor India Limited:

The Hyundai Motor Company of South Korea established Hyundai Motor India Limited on May 6, 1996. In 1996, when Hyundai Motor Company joined the Indian vehicle industry, the Hyundai brand was almost unknown in the country. There were only five major automotive manufacturers in India at the time of Hyundai’s arrival in 1996: Maruti, Hindustan, Premier, Tata, and Mahindra. With the Cielo, Daewoo joined the Indian vehicle market three years ago, while Ford, Opel, and Honda entered less than a year ago.

Maruti Suzuki enjoyed a total monopoly over the passenger car category for more than a decade before Hyundai arrived, because Tata Motors and Mahindra & Mahindra were only utility and commercial vehicle manufacturers.

The Hyundai Santro was debuted on September 23, 1998, and it was an instant hit. Within a few months of its founding, HMIL had risen to become India’s second largest vehicle producer and exporter. Hyundai Motor India Limited (HMIL) is the largest passenger car exporter and second largest car manufacturer in India, and is a wholly owned subsidiary of Hyundai Motor Company (HMC) in South Korea.

HMIL is the first automotive firm in India to export 10 lakh cars in just over a decade as HMC’s worldwide export base for tiny cars. HMIL now exports automobiles to a total of 87 nations. For the ninth year in a row, it has been the country’s top exporter of passenger cars.

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