The regional automobile industry forum #AutoForum2017, organized by Color Media Communications and SAT Media Group, took place at the Radisson Blu Old Mill Hotel in Belgrade on 21st March.
#AutoForum2017 assembled relevant experts and automobile brands, and the representatives of educational institutions, the Customs Administration and importers association.
Deputy General Manager of the Serbian Chamber of Commerce, Mihailo Vesović and the First Secretary and the head of the Economic Section of the Italian Embassy in Belgrade, Matthias Kleva officially opened the Forum.
Some of the topics discussed at the Forum were self-driving and electric vehicles, as well as education in automobile industry.
Aleksandra Đurđević, Delta Motors: “The car that you see exhibited here is one of a kind. So far, BMW has sold 100,000 electric vehicles. What sets this car apart from others is strategy because everything about it is environmentally friendly – from the way it was produced to the way it runs. The mission of these ‘i’ vehicles is to become fully environmental.”
Zoran Todorović, from Mercedes’ Manager Training Center, talked about Star Import d.o.o. and its contemporary training centre in Belgrade, the way in which trainers and other staff are educated, the latest trends that are used, and educational process. This case study was a real introduction to educating true professionals at our universities. There was a general consensus among the participants that universities and other educational institutions have to work together and establish solid links with automobile industry.
Bratislav Kocić from Bosch presented a training centre which has been cooperating with other brands by training their employees. “There is at least one person in every town that has gone through our training. In this day and age, when everything depends on speed, we were forced to modify our approach. We had to find a completely different access to knowledge for our trainees. We have already started with a pilot project of VR classroom. You will no longer have to be physically present in our centre but rather you will be able to learn online.”
Bosch, Mercedes Benz, Delta Motors, Lavazza and Mivela were the official partners of the AutoForum2017.