Maruti Suzuki plans double bonanza on International Women's Day

In a city that never sleeps, commuting can be a nuisance if you are a novice driver. Women today have taken to the road in hordes and to commemorate those fearless ladies who brave the Mumbai traffic on a daily basis, India’s leading car manufacturer Maruti Suzuki India Limited, has announced a double bonanza for women on the International Woman’s Day. The highlight of the Maruti Suzuki campaign this year is “Queen of the road” contest and fabulous discounts for women enrolling for driving training at Maruti Driving School.

To empower women with the power of mobility a special discount of 25% will be offered to teaching them safe “car driving” at all MDS across the country. For women who already know how to drive a car but would like to hone their driving skills, a special Advanced Learner program has been designed at Rs 1000/-, which will enable them, overcome their challenge areas and help them become better road users. One of the unique features of these driving schools is that lady instructors are also available to train women and over 50% of the trainees at Maruti Driving Schools are women.

Speaking on the popularity of Maruti Driving Schools among women, Mr. Mahesh Rajoria, Chief General Manager, Maruti Suzuki says, “Driving is now a critical empowerment skill for women.  Our experience suggests if you train women you actually train the entire family. Besides meeting their day to day requirement, this empowerment promotes self-esteem and self-reliance. We have trained over 1,40,000 women in safe driving practices. Through the contest and subsidized learner and advanced courses we are only trying to reach many more women.”

There are a total of 250 Maruti Driving Schools across the country with XX in Mumbai alone. Almost XX women are trained in these schools as against the national total of 140,000. There is global momentum for championing women's equality. International Women’s Day is celebrated worldwide on March 8 to mark the economic, political and social achievements of women and foster sustainable change.

Commemorating this day MDS will hold “Maruti Suzuki Queen of the road” contest. A Special website has been created where women can enrol for an online safe driving test throughout March. This will be followed by a practical evaluation at the nearest Maruti Driving School of their choice. In the final leg, a winner will be shortlisted from each zone of India, felicitated with the title of “Queen of the road” and win a cash prize of Rs. 50,000/-. This is the second edition of this contest. Last year, over 16,000 registrations were done with 961 fresh enrolments on International Women’s Day 2012.