CAR Digital Dealer Conference 2017

Date: Friday, 1 September 2017
Venue: SA Festival of Motoring, Kyalami Grand Prix Circuit

With new technology continuing to shape the future direction of the motor industry, it is more critical than ever to stay ahead of the trends that will change the way South African dealerships operate. Vehicle buyers now turn to the Internet and mobile devices to guide them through their purchasing decisions, by way of search, online reviews, social media, and user-friendly experiences. This behavior requires dealerships to adopt cutting–edge technologies and digital strategies to maintain their competitive advantage.

The CAR Digital Dealer Conference is where top OEMs and dealers will go to stay ahead of the technology curve delivering an array of industry speakers – local and international – and networking opportunities. It’s a program carefully designed to impart groundbreaking business strategies for the SA motor industry.

An ever-evolving technological environment will drive growth as will the change in consumer needs, preferences and deeper levels of understanding and acceptance of these new technologies. Shift in consumer expectation, technology progress, government regulation and personal mobility will be the forces that shape the automotive industry resulting in a radical shift impacting all aspects of the motoring industry. Based on these shifts, the theme for the CAR Digital Dealer Conference will be:

The digital economy: how dealers need to adapt to align with consumer buying trends

The SA Festival of Motoring is sub-Saharan Africa’s premier auto show and is the only South African motor show endorsed by NAAMSA (National Association of Automobile Manufacturers of South Africa). Visitors from all over Africa will attend this years SA Motoring Experience at the Kyalami Grand Prix circuit, and over 50 000 industry executives and consumers will be exposed to a range of automotive products – from new model launches, live track racing and testing, skidpan demos to watching a passing parade of supercars, vintage cars and car classics.

The business highlight of the SA Motoring Experience driven by the SA Festival of Motoring is the CAR Conference, which will be held on the 1 September. The CAR conference was first held in 1996 and has become the definitive industry conference for the broader Southern African automotive Industry. Drawing on specialist speakers from the world stage, the CAR Conference takes on an increasingly global perspective of the challenges and opportunities facing the local industry.