If you’ve been around for long enough, there’s a good chance you remember the days of Shah Rukh Khan and Preity Zinta driving around in a Hyundai Santro. Hyundai has now roped in Deepika Padukone as its newest brand ambassador, who obviously needs no introduction. Interestingly, she made her debut in Bollywood with Shah Rukh Khan; Hyundai India’s first brand ambassador. The Bollywood actress has also been the face of multiple brands throughout the years, such as Jio, Lux, Oppo, and Tetley Green Tea among many others.
This isn’t the first time Hyundai has been associated with women, having previously also signed women cricketers such as Shefali Verma, Jemimah Rodrigues, and Smriti Mandhana among others. Besides women, the Korean carmaker also recently paired up with Indian cricketer Hardik Pandya, and Red Bull athlete Tomas Slavik.
This announcement has come just days after Hyundai bagged two trophies at the recently-concluded ICOTY 2024; the Ioniq 5 ended up winning the Green Car Of The Year 2024, while the Exter bagged the Indian Car Of The Year 2024, competing against rivals such as the Honda Elevate, Maruti Suzuki Jimny, and the Toyota Innova Hycross.
Hyundai seems to understand the importance of signing in renowned names and faces to bring a certain sense of relatability to its audience base. There’s no forgetting the car maker’s association with Shah Rukh Khan, and over the years it has roped in many others. Its sister brand, Kia, has also followed in a similar mould, but we will be talking about this entire topic separately; stay tuned for that!
