Moneyweb DRIVE: From the Editor
The Greatest
Show on Earth
as we all plan for the holiday
season or merely head out on
a warm summer’s evening on
a whim to a restaurant, club, or
the movies.
In reviewing this edition of
MoneywebDRIVE a thread has
emerged, and that is one of optimism. Headlining the edition
with a sort of “Here Comes Summer” theme highlights the fact
that for the next six to seven
months we can enjoy glorious
warm weather in our country.
And whether you own a convertible or not, the motorcar is
going to play a huge part in enjoying the sunshine to the full,
As this edition reaches you I
will be in Germany attending
the Frankfurt International Auto
Show. This is the world’s greatest
motor show, run every two years
at the Messe, a massive complex
situated just 10 minutes away
from Frankfurt’s city centre.
The theme of this year’s show
is connectivity and automated driving in the automobile
and the organisers themselves
have devoted a vast area to
this very subject.
The manufacturers are also
show-casing examples of this
connectivity at every opportunity. It is interesting that this year’s
Frankfurt show sees over 1 100
exhibitors from 39 countries. And
at the show over 200 new model releases will have taken place
by the time you read this, on the
media days on September 15
and 16.
ture effect. Interesting statistics
about the Mercedes exhibition
at this year’s show revealed that
over 150 Mercedes employees
worked for a year on planning
the exhibition totalling more
than 9 000 square metres. Some
850 tons of steel, over 230 kilometres of cabling and around 4 500
lights have been installed in the
Mercedes Festival Hall alone.
On the Monday evening prior to the first media day, Mercedes-Benz – amongst others – hosts its media night in a
special hall dedicated to this
giant German manufacturer.
This year’s hugely impressive exhibition includes a “Silver Flow”
free-standing floating sculp-
Such is the scope of this event
which attracts over 800 000 visitors each year. In the October
1 edition we’ll bring you all the
highlights of The Greatest Show
on Earth.
Stuart Johnston
3