German luxury car maker Mercedes Benz on Wednesday launched a campaign to emphasize awareness on road safety in India in association with its four group companies working in the country. Named as ‘Safe Roads’, the campaign is a joint CSR initiative of Mercedes Benz global headquarter and its group firms operating here, in which the message is spread through visual aids, physical demonstrations and research projects.
“We think that in India its time to look further into the social responsibility and we discussed among all the four Indian entities with HQ on what we can do to increase the awareness of safety in India. We would do road shows in leading cities,” Mercedes Benz India, Managing Director & CEO Eberhard Kern told PTI.
Mercedes Benz is partnering with experts in the field of road safety and approaching the education systems as schools and colleges, he added. It has four group companies in India – Mercedes Benz India, Mercedes Benz Research and Development India, Daimler India Commercial Vehicles and Daimler Financial Services India. After flagging its roadshow in Delhi, Mercedes Benz India now plans to touch Ahmedabad, Mumbai, Pune, Chennai and Bengaluru, Mercedes Benz Research & Development India Managing Director & CEO Manu Saale said.
“We are in touch with a number of educational institutions and agencies and open to any body who can contribute to bring down the fatality rate in India,” he said. India has the highest number of road deaths in India. According to the reports approximately 140,000 people die every year on Indian roads, largely due to ignorance of safety norms and rules, the company said in statement.
Mercedes Benz had reported 40 per cent jump in sales in January-March quarter of 2015 at 3,566 units in India, as compared to 2,554 units sold in the same period of 2014. “Our first quarter was extremely good, much better than expected and it continues in April,” Mr. Kern said. The German automaker, Mercedes Benz had announced its plans to launch 15 models this year, of which it has already launched five so far.
