Nissan form partnership with Habitat for Humanity

When we think of which industries are on the sharp end of the necessary attention we now place on conservation and energy reduction the auto industry is naturally one that often appears at the top of that list. Owning and driving private and commercial vehicles is a staple in modern society but we should look for the automotive decision makers to make progress in vehicle emissions, mileage improvements and changes in manufacturing that can have a positive environmental impact. To paraphrase that, less of a negative impact is a goal that we subscribe to. In the short term gasoline powered vehicles will remain the predominant choice so what should we expect from auto-makers in terms of CSR? The example beneath is a welcome demonstration of what can be done.

Australian bushfires in 2009

Nissan Australia (with other divisions to follow this year) are building a partnership to support Habitat for Humanity via vehicle donations. The first step and official announcement was made today (January 6, 2010) in a joint press release from Nissan and Habitat for Humanity. The donated vehicle goes into the Habitat workforce immediately and the 4×4 Navara king cab will be critical in rural operations as the charity continues to assist in home construction to assist those impacted by the historically vast recent bushfires in Australia. Dan Thompson, Managing Director of Nissan stated:

“Habitat for Humanity is a critical community charity dedicated to improving the lives of families in hardship. Nissan is proud to stand alongside Habitat both here in Australia and in other global markets where we operate”

Habitat for Humanity claim the remarkable achievement of building a new Habitat home somewhere in the world every 12 minutes. The organisation has constructed over 340,000 houses around the world, housing over 1.5 million people in safe, affordable shelter since its founding more than 30 years ago. We’d like to see other major auto manufacturers continue to provide support via Corporate Social Responsibility Programs in the year ahead. At Miratel we view our CSR as an integral part of who we are and the integration of our programs has been a natural extension of the growth our business has experienced. We take pride in merging the allocation of the appropriate resources and developing plans and initiatives that create a CSR blueprint that we share with our employees and partners.