In a “How to” day organised by Ford Motor Company of Southern Africa for the media late last month, the five women writers not only learned how to change a tyre and check car oil, but they also got to go on a tour of the Silverton assembly plant in Pretoria. 

For most of them, it was their first time in a vehicle assembly plant and they were impressed by the technology on the line where more than one type of vehicle can be loaded in some queues, as well as how the welding automatons could actually recognise each car by its shape.

Talking to the execs

The media also spent time with Hal Feder, president and CEO of FMCSA, and other Ford executives who gave an overview of Ford’s presence in South Africa, the cutting edge technology on Ford vehicles, as well as other handy tips on buying and maintaining a car. 

Product marketing manager Leora Lipka took the journalists through the aspects of kinetic design and pointed out how everyday objects such as furniture and clothing could inspire car design. Take the dashboard of the new Ford Fiesta for example, the centre stack obviously shares elements with the design of a cell phone.

Moving from design, fleet business manager Valerie Made then spoke on what to watch out for before signing on the dotted line for a new car. She also wove in a discussion on safety issues by explaining the meanings of various industry acronyms such as ABS, EBD and DSC.

Getting their hands dirty

The day ended with Natasja-Tez Brent, quality manager, summarising the basic needs of a car and dispelling the myth that women can’t change tyres. To prove her point, she showed the media how easily it could be done and promptly let them practise on two brand-new Fords amidst lots of laughter.

Glacier Nkhwashu from the Daily Sun, the country’s biggest-readership newspaper, wrote about what she had learned from the “How to” day and shared tips with the readers.

In fact, she must have been so confident with the new knowledge that, at the end of her list of tips in the column, she wrote: “And if all else fails… next time your car gets stuck, call me!”

Terri Kaye (left) from Cleo and Ufrieda Ho from The Star take in the new Ford Fiesta.	Terri Kaye from Cleo learns to change a tyre.