Nissan Cares: Car Manufacturer's Coolest Initiatives

Nissan is an automaker that cares about so much more than profits. It strives to give back through various initiatives that help improve lives around the world. Read on to learn more about the car manufacturer’s most recent initiatives.

Red Thumb Reminder

Distracted driving has become such a major problem that it’s now considered an epidemic. In fact, it’s estimated that one in every four accidents involves the use of a cellphone. To combat this grisly reality, Nissan has teamed up with NBC and Adam Levine to start the Red Thumb movement in an effort to reduce phone-related accidents.

The idea behind the Red Thumb reminder is simple: Make your texting thumb red by painting it with red nail polish, wrapping it in red ribbon, wearing a red rubber ring, drawing a red x, or by getting creative and coming up with whatever personal reminder works for you. By being able to share images of your red thumb using #redthumb, Nissan has helped make safe driving not only relevant for teens and young adults, but it’s also helped start a conversation about the importance of safe driving.

Knock, Knock, Cats

Not only is Nissan concerned about driver safety, but it’s also compassionate when it comes to animals. Japan has recently dealt with freezing temperatures and snow, forcing the country’s cats to seek shelter – usually in the tire wells or under the hoods of cars. While checking for cats underneath your car in the wintertime may be common knowledge in the U.S., it’s not as widely known overseas, which is why the Japanese automaker is stepping up with its Knock, Knock, Cats campaign.

Knock, Knock, Cats is a potentially lifesaving campaign that urges drivers to first check their cars before starting them up, knocking on the hoods to give any stowaway cats the chance to get out before they get hurt from the engine kicking on. Tokyo alone has as many as 60,000 strays wandering the city streets, so Nissan is hoping this trend of checking for feline friends will catch on.

Gender Diversity Initiative

One of Renault-Nissan Alliance’s prime initiatives is in closing the gender gap, and it’s making amazing progress. Both Renault and Nissan launched programs to recruit, retrain, and promote women in their manufacturing facilities. More than that, these companies also strive to attract more female car buyers, helping create more gender diversity across the board.

Nissan alone has greatly boosted the number of women salespeople working in Japan. Women represented 8.5 percent of the Japanese sales staff in mid-2015, which was up 1.5 percent from the end of 2014. In 2015, Nissan also had more than 150 Ladies First dealerships in Japan, which are dealerships that feature play areas for kids, nursing rooms, and colorful, more stylish showrooms to make the buying process more welcoming to women.

Making the world a better, safer place is always on most people’s minds, so it’s nice to know that a major company like Nissan shares the same values and is working hard to give back.

Image via Pixabay