On the 11th of August at 9am, a few of us media and fashion folk caught a quick flight from Cape Town to the hustle city of Johannesburg for a two day trip with FORD SOUTH AFRICA for their annual Ford Go further event. Although it was my first year attending this convention, I have had the privilege of testing out and reviewing a ford vehicle before (which you can view here) which was great, so I was really excited to attend the convention and see what ford had in store for us.
We arrived at O.R Tambo, took the 10 minute Gautrain to
Sandton and were then shuttled to our “oh so chic” hotel for the night, The
Maslow. We were given 30 minutes to
freshen up and headed straight to the Sandton convention centre for the first
part of the #GOFURTHERAFRICA convention.
One lap around the packed venue filled with Cars, Games and
amazing food, the bell rang and the informative presentation was about to
begin.
For those of you who have no idea why they host this event
annually, it’s simply to inform the continent of Africa what Ford as an
innovative company has been busy creating and doing for the past year and also
what they will be releasing over the next year or so. Below are a few images from the convention
and also a few of the new and innovative products that’ll be released soon.
We were introduced to the CEO of ford for Sub Sahara Africa
and a few other influential employees of the Ford brand. They shared with us all the amazing things
they are doing right now like building vehicles with Eco boost engines, making it light on fuel , keeping the carbon
footprint of our planet low but also
keeping that ford power and efficiency the brand promises.
Projects and Products
The New RS
Focus RS introduces advanced performance technologies, and is the first
Ford RS equipped with selectable drive modes - including industry-first drift
mode, as well as launch control. With a 2.3-litre EcoBoost engine delivering
257kW of power and 440Nm of torque, the high-performance road car features the
most powerful Ford RS braking system ever.
“The all-new Focus RS is a serious machine with high-performance
technology and innovative engineering that sets new benchmarks for driving
exhilaration on the road and track,” said Raj Nair, Ford Motor Company group
vice president, Global Product Development.
The Mustang
The Ford Mustang has made thousands of appearances in film, television,
music and video games, and is the world’s most-liked vehicle on Facebook.
Design and performance are two of the essential attributes that have made
Mustang appeal to millions of fans for five decades.
“Ford Mustang inspires passion like no other car,” says Tracey Delate,
General Marketing Manager, Ford Motor Company of Southern Africa. “The visceral
look, sound and performance of Mustang resonates with people, even if they’ve
never driven one. Mustang is definitely more than just a car – it is the heart
and soul of Ford.”
With 320kW and 536Nm on tap, the 5.0-litre V8 fastback model with
six-speed manual transmission reaches 100 km/h from a standing start in 4.8
seconds – making this the fastest Ford ever in SSA.
The new Ranger
Due to be launched in the Sub-Saharan Africa region in the fourth
quarter of 2015, it will once again be produced at Ford’s Silverton Assembly
Plant in Pretoria and exported to 148 markets in Africa and Europe.
“The new Ford Ranger brings a new level of comfort and refinement to
its segment without compromising on the rugged capability that our customers
demand,” says Tracey Delate, General Marketing Manager, Ford Motor Company of
Southern Africa. “It represents a smarter kind of tough, and will help our
customers to achieve more, whether at work or with their families.”
Featuring an updated, more muscular front end, and a stylish, smart and
functional new interior, the new Ranger builds upon a reputation of capability,
innovation and comfort that has helped the Ranger to stand apart from
traditional pickup trucks. It also boasts an array of new cutting-edge
technologies that enable new levels of connectivity, convenience and utility.
“When we set out to improve upon
the Ford Ranger, we knew we had our work cut out for us: The current Ranger is
one of the toughest, most capable trucks out there,” Delate says. “But thanks
to our proud truck heritage and global expertise in the utility segment, we’ve
made what was great even better, with a bold new look, improved efficiency and
a new level of refinement.”
The Everest
“With the all-new Everest, we’re further strengthening
our showroom line-up with a fully capable and competitive premium SUV that works
equally well as a comfortable and refined family vehicle or taking on the
roughest terrains,” says Tracey Delate, General Marketing Manager, Ford Motor
Company of South Africa. “It’s a completely new vehicle inside and out with a
host of first-in-class features, providing unmatched value in its segment.”
The Ford Figo
·
Ford’s vision for global compact car
with advanced technology and clever design
·
Eye-catching styling for five-door
hatchback and new four-door sedan
·
Innovative features, superb quality,
exceptional fuel efficiency and overall value
Ford Performance
“The Ford Performance brand is all
about driving innovation through performance, taking advantage of every
technological breakthrough and product enhancement from each of our motorsport
campaigns and road-going cars to create unique performance vehicles, parts,
accessories and experiences for customers,” says Tracey Delate, General
Marketing Manager, Ford Motor Company of Southern Africa.
The Ford BMax
“The
new Ford B-MAX really challenges traditional small car thinking,” says Tracey
Delate, General Marketing Manager at Ford Motor Company of Southern Africa
(FMCSA). “Its ingenious design opens the doors – quite literally – to exciting
new ideas about what's possible with a compact vehicle.”
Many people don’t realise that as bloggers, attending events
and conferences are actually part of the job, so having all our friends stay at
one hotel and getting to hang out with each other all day before we headed back
to our day to day hustles, really felt like a family vaycay. That being said, I really feel so blessed and
honoured to be part of the Ford South Africa family and even more excited and
proud of what they’re doing as a car brand right now. So before I go, I’d like to say thanks to
Ensly Dooms (the awesome guy responsible for the brands coolness) for having me
and well done on the week’s events.
Part two to follow soon the #BmaxLAunch
