The 2006 Global Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) study, which was conducted in March and April across 16 countries by TNS Automotive, reveals that emerging markets such as Thailand, India, and China rate automotive related companies higher in regards to corporate social responsibility than mature markets of the West.
The study attributes this to the general public’s high ratings of the automotive sector in emerging markets for generating jobs and improving quality of life.
Following closely behind Shell were the JV companies of Volkswagen: Shanghai VW and FAW VW. Both Shanghai VW and FAW VW received very favourable ratings for manufacturing safe products and for improving the quality of life for people in China.
Chris Bonsi, regional director TNS Automotive explains, “Thailand, India, and China have recorded phenomenal industry growth in the automotive sector and consumers in these markets see automotive related companies playing an integral role in the economic and social development of their country. Conversely, the governments of some emerging markets do not fully recognise the contribution of the automotive sector in generating jobs for their country – in some cases, levying high taxes on the automotive sector because the end-products are seen to be luxury items that only a few can afford, without considering the jobs the sector creates for everyday people manufacturing, distributing, and servicing these products.”
The Global CSR study was conducted by TNS to understand the general public’s perception of the automotive sector in regards to compliance and contribution towards corporate, social, environmental, and philanthropic activities.
Consumers were asked to rate corporations from the passenger car, commercial vehicle, motorcycle, tire, and oil sectors. All of the scores were indexed using TNS’ stakeholder management system with the global average set to 100. Scores above one hundred indicate strong public goodwill towards the corporation.