AutoTrader bring new tech to Festival of Motoring

From 31 August to 2 September, AutoTrader, South Africa’s largest online automotive marketplace, joins forces with the iconic Festival of Motoring to bring visitors to an all-new Tech Zone, packed with the latest in auto-tech innovation. This year’s event will be hosted at Johannesburg’s Kyalami Grand Prix Circuit.

Dubbed the Tech Zone, the AutoTrader headed initiative will feature leading brands such as Volvo, BMW, and Mercedez-Benz – all at the forefront of digital motoring development. Representatives from these brands and others will present Tech Talks, together cracking a window onto the future of automotive tech.

MC’d by Jacob Mashokoa, the weekend kicks off with the NAAMSA-sponsored "Paths to the Future" conference, #naamsaautocon.

Here speakers including the Minister of Trade and Industry and AutoTrader CEO George Mienie will discuss ‘How Automotive Brands Can Secure A Strong Digital Presence In A Changing Economy’, with an added focus on SA’s post 2020 automotive industry development program, regional market development in Africa, and industry wide digital transformation.

Thereafter a spread of hot topics take to the floor throughout the weekend, featuring among others:

• ‘Digitalisation’ by George Mienie, CEO AutoTrader
  
• ‘Racing Legends’ by Sarel van der Merwe, Graham Duxbury, Paolo Cavalieri, Will Kinsmann – Goodwood FoS
  
• ‘How We Integrate And Live With The Electric Car’ by Jon Kroeger – Future Customer Consultant
  
• ‘The Importance Of New Technology In BMW & Audi’ by Ismail Makhlouf (Technohead)
  
• ‘Petrol-heads vs Techno-heads’ with Gary Formato, Vic Maraja, George Mienie, Hiten Parmer

While the AutoTrader Tech Zone will impart groundbreaking business strategies for the SA motor industry, the area won’t be all talk. A state-of-the-art F1 simulator will also be featured - all visitors need to do is download the AutoTrader App to take a hair-raising ride, with the weekend’s fastest lap netting a sensational prize.

Outside of the Zone’s tech-injection, the Festival as a whole is on hand to thrill.

The Festival of Motoring presents a Dedicated Supercar Area, where fifty modern road-going supercars can be seen both in a pit area and on track. In addition a display of iconic supercars will celebrate the evolution of racing’s monster machines throughout the three show days.

Not to be outdone, the ‘Best of the Best’ Classic Cars Display will once again be a major drawcard, where a selection of 15 quality cars will take a similar look at South Africa’s auto evolution, this time from the street auto point of view.

AutoTrader are uniquely positioned to drive the future tech auto message. Having evolved from a print-only publication to today’s 20 times bigger digital-only offering, and backed by Naspers, one of the world’s tech giants, the company is ready to help drive the industry forward.

“This year the Festival of Motoring has decided to put a spotlight on technology. We at AutoTrader are honoured to bring motoring fans these tech topics of the future,” said AutoTrader CEO George Mienie. “Our goal is to develop the Tech Zone and Tech Talks, and for it to become the platform for these big discussions going forward.”

With over 57,000 visitors expected to attend, the Festival of Motoring, presented by Wesbank and this year featuring the debut of the AutoTrader Tech Talks and Tech Zone, is poised to offer a new look at motoring’s future. For more information and to buy tickets visit www.safestivalofmotoring.com.