30,000 Sign Saudi Women Subaru Petition

30,000 Including Anne & Lisa Sign Saudi Petition

Saudi Women Call on ‘Progressive’ Subaru to Leave Kingdom Over Driving Ban Bloomberg

Put ‘Subaru’ in Google news and the top story is the car maker’s record-setting Isle of Man TT run.  That setting is Ireland. Further south, the desert sands of Saudi Arabia are heating up for Subaru and perhaps other car makers, too.

In the #2 spot and #3 is the petition signed by 30,000 global activists as of yesterday morning and led by Saudi Women for Driving. We have signed the petition and Anne is promoting it on Facebook.

Checking in just now, the group is printing bumper stickers to put on cars in Saudi Arabia and around the world.

Bloomberg picked up the story in-depth, writing that the petition asks Subaru, a brand considered to be ‘progressive’ in marketing its products directly to women, to pull out of Saudi Arabia until women can drive.

“It is our hope that this will put huge pressure on the Saudi royal family and shine a bright light on the ‘gender apartheid’ in our country,” the group said of its call for Subaru to exit the kingdom. “It’s a chance for the company to live up to its brand and make a huge difference for nearly 13 million of us Saudi women.”

Anne wrote on FB yesterday that it was pressure on business that finally ended apartheid in South Africa. Can the same tactics be applied on behalf of Saudi women? One quote in the Bloomberg article really got her attention, and it came from Cadillac’s spokesperson in Europe:

Hanspeter Ryser, a spokesman in Zurich for Cadillac Europe, said he wasn’t aware of any plans to change Cadillac’s business in Saudi Arabia because of the ban against women driving.

“I cannot imagine there are any steps planned to pull out of Saudi Arabia,” Ryser said. “It’s a very strong market for us. Cadillac vehicles are very popular in this part of the world. In general, we as a company are not getting engaged in political debates, political issues.”

In an example of how women handle these sensitive matters differently than men, Meeyoung Song, a spokeswoman for Hyundai, said she couldn’t immediately comment when reached by phone today.

Cadillac Europe sounds like he worked previously for Hummer USA. Reading his words was a bit like waving a flag in front of a group of women and men who are fighting mad these days. To be continued …