Aaron Brzozowski
Ford’s Middle East & Africa division is giving a free Mustang pony car to a 63-year-old female Saudi activist who fought for women’s right to drive in the country, following Saudi Arabia’s royal decree last week that women would no longer be barred from operating motor vehicles there. The woman, Sahar Nassif, was outspoken in her criticism of the law banning female citizens from driving, and she was arrested in 2013 after sharing a video via YouTube that depicted her driving around the city with a couple of passengers.
“I’m really thrilled, everybody’s so thrilled – I’m so excited I don’t know what to do,” Nassif reportedly told the BBC. “I’m going to buy a Mustang!”
Now, it seems the 63-year-old Saudi woman won’t have to; Ford Middle East tweeted the following last Friday:
Hi @Da7eyatAlmojtam, we’d like to give you your dream car.#MustangSahar #SaudiWomenCanDrive https://t.co/Tln8aiWUNU
— Ford Middle East (@FordMiddleEast) September 29, 2017
The decision to lift the ban on woman drivers in Saudi Arabia could have huge implications for automakers that do business in the region; according to IHS Markit, the change in policy could lead to an increase in regional sales of about 28 percent. The country is an economic powerhouse in the Middle East, holding the title as the world’s largest oil producer and exporter, and being categorized by the World Bank as a “high-income economy”. In addition to offering a Ford Mustang to Sahar Nassif, the automaker responded to the news of Saudi Arabia’s lifting of the ban on female drivers by issuing this powerful advertisement via Twitter:
Welcome to the driver’s seat. #SaudiWomenMove #SaudiWomenCanDrive pic.twitter.com/oksRbFvLWa
— Ford Middle East (@FordMiddleEast) September 27, 2017
(Source: Arabian Business)
