Humanity in times of
Hardship
- WORDS
- VANESSA LEE
- PHOTOS
- REED SCHMIDT
7 minute read
Caring for humanity has always been at the heart of Hyundai’s vision. Our first project as a company was to build new transportation infrastructure for Korea, providing freedom of movement for everybody. Over several decades, Hyundai has sought to help and progress society as a whole, going far beyond our role as simply an automaker.
As humanity has become more globally minded, so has our vision. We believe that everyone should be able to move freely and live fully. That’s why we create and fund social projects that protect and unite people, whether through medical care, social welfare, research or development.
COVID-19 has presented our world with unprecedented challenges in many ways than expected. It has reared its ugly head by showing us the dark side of the inequality. But, it has also shined a light on humanity and has shown us the importance of acting quickly and selflessly.
We believe that every individual is essential and deserves attention, which is why are offering support not just to global charities and institutions, but on a local level to smaller organizations and most importantly, individuals.
Solidarity with Communities
For us, humanity isn’t an abstract idea. For us it means people. And during these challenging times, we are committed to focusing our attention on individuals all over the world. From parents to children to neighbors and friends - we are reaching out to communities across the globe that need our support the most.
For those directly affected by COVID-19 in Korea, we have opened up 2 training centers near Daegu to care for people infected by the virus. The regions of Daegu and Gyeongbuk were hit hardest by the virus and declared special disaster zones. In these areas, we have partnered with the Korea Disaster Relief Association to provide locals with protection services. In addition, we have donated $4.1 million to the KDRA to send vital cash relief, medical equipment, and safety masks directly to the people who need them.
2 training centers near Daegu were opened up
to care for people infected by the virus.
As well as assisting those with the virus, we are helping others to prevent its spread. On a local level, we are offering free sanitization and disinfecting shared, public places within our community, such as service centers and buses. We are also providing car sanitization to all drivers, regardless of their car brand. This involves applying antibacterial sprays to vehicle interiors, similar to the services we provided during the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) crisis. We are committed to helping people make important journeys safely and without stress.
We recognize that prevention, isolation, and social distancing are having a profound impact on people’s mental wellbeing and are doing all we can to allow people to continue to live their lives with peace of mind.
As well as donating thermometers, hand sanitizers, and masks to people, we are also giving out quarantine care packages of food and beverages to people to take the strain off self-isolation. These packages are specially designed to help those who are vulnerable, underprivileged, or going through financial hardship.
Continued
Customer Support
We have always been dedicated to maintaining a relationship with those who support our business and now is the time to give our support back to them. Care for our customers doesn’t stop after they’ve made a purchase.
To respond to the sweeping effects of the COVID-19 crisis upon individuals, families, and new and current Hyundai owners, we have created support programs to protect them.
With our US Job Loss Protection Program, we are offering up to six months of payments for owners who purchased or leased a Hyundai between March 15 and April 30 2020 if they lose their job due to COVID-19 this year.
Our Global Health Crisis Relief program also offers deferred payments to those who have lost their jobs or experienced medical hardship due to COVID-19 before April 30. Any new customers will be offered 0% financing and 3 months of deferred payments on selected new Hyundai vehicles until 30 April.
We know that times are stressful enough so we have designed these initiatives to ease any financial pressure that our customers may be facing in these uncertain times.
In it Together
We see COVID-19 as a challenge facing all of us as global citizens. Since the beginning of the coronavirus outbreak in December 2019, we have donated $2 million worth of supplies to China as a response against the spread of the virus and to help victims recover quickly.
We have sent supplies directly to people living in the most affected parts of China, including protective masks, goggles and personal protective equipment and clothing. We have donated money not just for medical facilities, but to bring invaluable human resource support to people during these stressful times.
United with our Employees & Partners
The health and safety of our employees are of utmost importance to us, which is why we adopted work-from-home. Of course, protecting people’s jobs and daily routines is also vital, and we will continue to keep businesses running, with strict safety measures in place.
For decades our partners and subcontractors have also worked tirelessly to provide valuable maintenance, servicing, repairs and training to mechanics. During these difficult times, we are dedicated to supporting these hard-working individuals whose lives have been negatively impacted by the virus.
Bluehands is a maintenance service brand for Hyundai Motor in Korea. Between March and May, we will offer exempt or discount affiliation fees for training that we give them. This means that mechanics will continue to get training and repair centers can continue to be authorized by Hyundai during these uncertain economic times.
Additionally, we are offering $1.8 million to our maintenance and repair partner companies to help them overcome any adverse effects of the outbreak and protect their employees and their jobs. We will also provide 1 trillion of financial aid for our small and medium-sized parts suppliers to counteract the damage caused by the pandemic and to protect their employees and their families.
Nobody is certain of how long this period of uncertainty will last. However, with widespread testing, immediate quarantine, contact tracing and self-isolation, certain parts of Asia have successfully slowed down the spread of the virus.
However, we are aware that the rest of the world now faces a challenging period of implementing measures to slow down and stamp out the virus. No matter how long that may take, Hyundai is committed to supporting people across the globe until the risk has completely passed.
COVID-19 doesn't only impact an individual, it impacts all of humanity. So we must unite to overcome this unprecedented crisis together. There has never been a more important time to reach out to those around you and show your support for one another. In this time of uncertainty and difficulty, Hyundai remains firm behind its commitment to making progress for humanity.