Barloworld Motor Retail last weekend treated its Amarok utility vehicle customers to a mind blowing expert training hosted by South Africa’s renowned 4×4 vehicle expert Andre De Villiers. The training, held at the Fairgrounds obstacle challenge grounds, gave Amarok owners the opportunity to interact with De Villiers and learn more about their vehicles. De Villiers started his training with a lecture that covered various topics including the right tyre sizes to fit, right tyre pressure and approved accessories for the Amarok vehicle. De Villiers shared his expertise, knowledge and passion for off-road driving and 4×4 vehicles. He also fielded questions from 4×4 enthusiasts who had graced the occasion to learn more about what their vehicles are cable of. It became apparent during the training that most of the Amarok owners were not aware of some of the features that come with their vehicles. “It’s amazing how I have been driving this vehicle without knowing some of the things it is capable of doing”, said Kabo Monare, one of the Amarok owners who graced the event. The training later moved to the obstacle challenges where De Villiers led a convoy of Amarok drivers and drove through some dare-devil terrains.
The vehicles were subjected to rocky and unstable roads. They drove through sand and dug-out holes. De Villiers made the whole exercise appear very easy, much to the amusement and disbelief of the spectators. He demonstrated all the strengths that can be found in the Amarok and explained all the technological aspects of the vehicle. He hailed Amarok as the best utility vehicle ever made by the Germans. De Villiers is well known in South African 4×4 and off-road circles. He is currently the host of a seventh series of the popular Safari 4×4 trails on kykNET television. He is a Mechanical Engineering by profession and in his subsequent career he was primarily involved in vehicle development at various companies and institutions.He has always had a special interest in vehicles, the ability of vehicles and the driver’s skill to utilize his vehicle optimally. As a teenager he singlehandedly built his own Beach Buggy built, and later as a young man he had the privilege to drive a support vehicle through Africa to Europe, as part of the support team of group of motor cyclist who undertook this adventurous journey. De Villiers says he enjoys offering 4×4 driving courses to novice and advanced 4×4 drivers, leading safaris to Botswana and other Southern African destinations, and to traverse the country looking for suitable routes to share with other 4×4 enthusiasts through his TV series. Speaking at the end of the event, Barloworld Principal Dealer Terry Petzer expressed his excitement at the successful training and said he hoped his customers will put to use the invaluable experience they got from De Villiers. Petzer said as Barloworld, they continue to care about their customers post sales and promised more of such trainings in the future.
