At the second edition of "Women in Mobility," Mobility Outlook, the platform of CarTrade Tech that focuses on the mobility ecosystem, honoured the spirit of women in the automotive and aviation industries.
The event, which was sponsored by MG Motor India, was attended by Sunjay Kapur, President of the ACMA, and Chairman of Sona Comstar, as well as Vinod Aggarwal, President of SIAM, ASDC, and VE Commercial Vehicles.
This issue is very important to us at MG, according to Gaurav Gupta, Chief Commercial Officer of MG Motor India. In reality, at MG, this is a part of everyday life. He also emphasized the company's efforts to support women, including Prerna, Genesis, Drive Her Back, Changemakers, Womentorshop, and Saarthi.
According to Banwari Lal Sharma, CEO of CarTrade Tech's consumer business, “MG Motor India's team swiftly accepted the Women in Mobility project. Rajeev Chaba, President & MD, MG Motor India, just inquired as to the rationale for our actions. I still recall explaining to them how important diversity is in creating a successful team. Whatever we do on a daily basis benefits us, and the same is true of culture. This was my response to Rajeev and Gaurav”.
MG Motor India's Head of Communications, Runa Ahlawat, emphasised the company's goal of achieving 50% diversity over the next few years. In MG's Halol factory in Gujarat, where women are active in several facets of vehicle manufacture, it is currently 37%.
"Men and women are created differently, but should we be treated differently as a result? The job done by the Ladies of MG is astounding, from handling large weapons to expertly painting automobiles! Making it feasible for women to work in the automotive industry was and is our only focus”, added Runa.
"At MG, you will find diverse individuals working in a cohesive atmosphere since we think variety does not separate but bonds us," said Rajeev Chaba, MD & President, MG Motor India.
Coffee Table Book
The second season of "Women In Mobility" contestants were all included in a coffee table book that was unveiled that evening. The book focuses on the travels of these female leaders and the difficulties they encountered along the way.
According to Vinod, SIAM will map the representation of women in the automobile sector. The Automotive Skills Development Council (ASDC) is identifying skill gaps in employable women and is planning to organise to improve their skills, the speaker continued. In 2021, Vinod was chosen to lead ASDC.
The industry needs to honour more women, in Sunjay’s opinion. With the type of change occurring in the automobile business, he continued, "opportunities are growing.
Diversity Champions
Although Women in Mobility concentrates on people, it was crucial to see how organisations were supporting women employees and executives. As a result, a new project under the Women in Mobility banner called "Champions of Diversity (CoD)" was created. This will honour businesses that value inclusion and diversity in the workplace.
Five auto suppliers received awards this year for their innovative workplace policies: Padmini VNA Mechatronics, Continental India, Dana TM4 India, Valeo India, and Cooper Corporation.
Only vendors were eligible to enter the current edition; however, starting with the 2019 edition, this programme will be available to vehicle manufacturers, suppliers, and startups that support women's empowerment.
"Some of you would recall that I had made a pledge regarding Champions Of Diversity during the finale of the first season of Women in Mobility," stated Deepangshu Dev Sarmah, founding editor of Mobility Outlook. The Champions of Diversity project will thus concentrate on what the organisations are doing to improve the diversity of their teams. Although we are honouring five suppliers, I firmly feel that CoD has a very long way to go.
