MG Motor India on Thursday announced a unique initiative, the Saarthi Program, for upskilling the chauffeurs of MG customers.
The carmaker has partnered with Automotive Skills Development Council (ASDC) for certification.
Saarthi program aims to familiarise the chauffeurs with advanced technologies and hi-tech features in MG cars for providing an enhanced, smarter, and safer driving experience. The customers can sign up their chauffeurs on the MG website for the training, free of cost.
The carmaker will train about 1,000 chauffeurs in the next two months and 10,000 by March 2022. The training will include practical and theory lessons, where the chauffeurs will learn about advanced technologies in MG cars offered under CASE (Connected, Autonomous, Shared and Electric) vision.
They will also be taught about the latest developments in safe vehicle operations and road safety techniques for driving responsibly.
Rajeev Chaba, President and Managing Director, MG Motor India, said, 'With this programme, our focus is to train the chauffeurs of MG customers in line with the advanced technologies that MG has brought to the Indian automotive industry.'
'The training will not only enable a safer and smarter driving experience but also hone chauffeurs' skills. It also covers an important aspect of driving responsibly, which is road safety. At MG, we are constantly looking for new ways to offer the best to our customers and the Saarthi program is another such initiative,' he added
Arindam Lahiri, CEO, Automotive Skills Development Council (ASDC), said that as the technology-cost curve becomes steeper, more technologies are finding their way into the automotive sector. Be it hybrid technology or electric vehicles, the automotive industry is evolving at a rapid pace. Hence, it is important to upskill the existing workforce to cope with rapid digitalisation.
'We are also thrilled to be a certified partner of MG Motor for the Saarthi Program. The programme's goal is to train the existing chauffeurs of MG customers to fill the supply deficit of the skilled automotive workforce. I believe that our certification will provide them with the right kind of recognition they want to make driving jobs aspirational,' he added.