(Bloomberg News) A group campaigning for an end to Saudi Arabia's ban on driving by women called on Fuji Heavy Industries Ltd.'s Subaru cars unit to pull out of the kingdom until the prohibition is lifted.
Today's announcement follows U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's support yesterday for the women who challenged the ban by driving in Saudi Arabia. She called them "brave," saying, "I am moved by it and I support them." Saudi Women for Driving, which asked Clinton June 3 for her backing, organized a show of defiance by women who drove in the country June 17 and encourages them to continue driving, which some did today.
"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."
Subaru was the first car maker targeted by the campaign because it is "progressive" and has marketed its products to women, the group said in a petition on U.S.-based Change.org, a website for social activism. The campaign may be extended to Detroit-based General Motors Co.'s Cadillac and Seoul-based Hyundai Motor Co., two brands of car used by Manal al-Sharif, a Saudi woman who was arrested last month for driving, said Change.org's human-rights editor, Benjamin Joffe-Walt.
Driving In Riyadh
Sara al-Khalidi said by phone that she and a male driver accompanied her mother as the elder woman drove today in the capital, Riyadh, before being reprimanded by the police and asked not to repeat the violation. Joffe Walt said by e-mail that there were two cars driven by women in Riyadh today and that the scene was captured on video by a Saudi media company.
Fuji Heavy and its Subaru dealers in Saudi Arabia haven't "received any information of any campaigns," Tokyo-based Kenta Matsumoto, spokesman for the company, said by phone. "We only have dealers in Saudi Arabia, and no factories. Our annual sales in the country are limited to only 300 to 400 units," he said.
Hani al-Faqih, a Subaru manager in Saudi Arabia, said from Riyadh that he had no immediate comment when asked about the campaign.
Cadillac Market
Hanspeter Ryser, spokesman in Zurich for Cadillac Europe, said he's not 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."
There was no immediate response from Hyundai to an e-mailed request for comment.
The campaign caps a series of developments that began in May, when Saudi women used the Facebook Inc. and Twitter Inc. social-networking websites to call for females with international driver's licenses to use their cars June 17. They said their plan wasn't a protest. Saudi Arabia, holder of the world's biggest oil reserves, has avoided the anti-government demonstrations that have rocked the Arab world this year.