10:59 am, January 19, 2023
Staff at car dealership SUV Prestige are preparing to drive to Ukraine and have put out a call to other dealers who may want to help.
On February 3, SUV Prestige employees will be driving a Mitsubishi L200 to Ukraine that they’re donating to the Car4Ukraine charity.
Boss Steve Dhesi revealed on the Car Dealer Podcast that he had seen our video with Car4Ukraine and thought he might have a vehicle perfect for donation.
Car Dealer reported on the call by the Ukrainian charity for pick-up trucks that it could repurpose for search and rescue and offensive missions in December.
In a video interview, which you can watch above, the campaign’s Ivan Oleksii explained how suitable cars are armour plated and put to work in active duty.
Right hand drive cars are particularly sought after because they confuse Russian snipers as they shoot at the wrong side of the vehicle.
As the SUV Prestige team get ready for the drive, they have put a message out asking if anyone else would like to donate a car or supplies that they can take with them.
Speaking to Car Dealer, as he prepared the L200 in the freezing cold, head of marketing Harry Leighton said: ‘We thought we’ve got an older truck, which was something that we’re probably gonna send to an auction or keep for ourselves as a backup vehicle.
‘Steve decided it’s probably going to be more helpful for the guys in Ukraine so he’s donating that.’
Leighton added: ‘Myself and my colleague Owen, are going to drive this over with at least three other cars now to Lviv and potentially more. We’ll be setting off on February 3 and should be in Lviv by the 5th or 6th.’
The team hopes that by doing this, other car dealerships might consider donating cars themselves.
He said: ‘I think from from our standpoint, one of the worries we had was that it’s never good for companies to get involved in politics. We’re just looking at this as if it was our kids, if it was our families in that position.
‘This is us being able to actually do something, to help somebody. If we save a few lives, or the food and toys we take for kids brighten up what is a very, very dark time for them, we’ve done something this could have impacted positively.
‘We’ll be taking a film crew to make a small documentary as a promotional piece for the charity. Hopefully we can encourage other dealers to think about cars they can donate in the group or whatever it is.’
If you’d like to donate then you can email [email protected] or donations can be dropped off at the dealership on Thorp Arch Estate, Wetherby in Yorkshire.
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