interview with
DAVID J. FORSTER, General Manager of First Motor Company (Al Futtaim Group)
The numbers talk for themselves. According to the Saudi traffic regulator, there are 18 deaths per day on Saudi roads reaching a high of 6,500 deaths last year in almost half a million accidents. There were 9 million traffic violations in 2010 and the value of the material loss is estimated at SR. 13 billion a year. To put an end to this, the government has recently started using speed cameras in an effort to curb the menace on the roads. “The government has made it a priority to improve road safety for all concerned. Volvo with its range of
“Once people drive a Volvo they buy in to the brand philosophy because it is the safest car” 230 · W G u i d e s
safest cars and features offer the perfect solution,” says David J Forster the new General Manager of First Motor Company (Al-Futtaim Group) in KSA. “When it comes to car security, Volvo is the car,” he says.
seatbelt) some 50 years ago. It also invented the seatbelts pre-tensioners, inflated airbags and laminated windscreens among many other safety measures for car drivers.
No fatalities by 2020 Volvo has a long history of industry firsts. The Swedish carmaker invented the traditional seatbelt (the 3 points
“Our brand ambition is to have no fatalities by 2020 in a Volvo,” says Mr. Forster. And to reach that goal Volvo has one of the
living
Everybody knows that driving in Saudi is not for amateurs. . There are accidents everyday on Saudi roads and they are the second biggest cause of deaths in the Middle East only after heart diseases.
“One of the new safety features, ’City Safety‘, comes as standard in the latest generation of Volvo cars” Saudi Arabia· 231