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The Debrecen Drive, now in its fifth edition, will take place on more than 50,000 square metres from 23 May and will feature a professional conference, spectacular vehicle shows, family programmes and a variety of car attractions.
At the press conference on Friday, Deputy Mayor Lajos Barcsa said, “The event is proof that in the city you can not only study and work, but also have fun.”
“This event also has symbolic significance: Debrecen is moving towards future technology and community experiences at the same time, “the Deputy Mayor emphasised.
The country’s largest automotive and vehicle industry exhibition will start this year with a spectacular opening event, as is tradition: the Metal-Sheet Night Drive show will kick off the three-day programme series on Friday evening.
“We will allow visitors to sit in a drift car next to the competitors in a drift taxi and go for a lap or two. I’m sure that many people will take advantage of this opportunity,” Metal-Sheet’s Sales and Marketing Manager Zsófia Máthé highlighted at the event’s press conference on Friday.
The organisers are also placing greater emphasis on safety this year.
“Now there will be a complete circle of concrete elements around the track, not just cordons. Practically no car will be able to run out into the spectators. The 2.2-meter-high fence, which will be located directly on the edge of the track, will protect to some extent from any parts that may bounce off. The safety distances will also be a little larger,” CEO of Debrecen Campus N. K. Ltd. Péter Miklósvölgyi pointed out.
More than 250 brand new saloon cars and about 800 different vehicles will be exhibited.
Szabolcs Németi, one of the main sponsors of Debrecen Drive, on behalf of Euroleasing PLC said that in addition to the brands that are already well-known in Europe, they will also be preparing with an oriental specialty, as they will also bring DongFeng cars to Debrecen.
The Night Drive and the weekend Drive Show will feature a number of additional elements, including children’s activities, round-table discussions, concerts and exciting competitions.
For example, the Debrecen audience will also have the chance to see Csaba Krajnyák’s unique Ferrari clothing collection. But even those who want to see a helicopter up close will not be disappointed. The service helicopter of the Standby Police will be in the middle of the Nagyerdei Stadium on Sunday morning, leaving the area at 1:30 p.m., so the take-off can also be watched.
There will also be a Schaeffler Mini Drive, where the really young drivers will be able to show off their skills. Director of Communications for Schaeffler’s Hungarian companies Zsolt Szabó said that it was their intention to instil a curiosity for engineering and technical sciences in children from a very young age.
He added that they saw the potential of Debrecen Drive from the very beginning and have been working with the organisers to maximise its potential.
The event will also include a conference and a professional forum to address the key issues of the automotive transition up to 2035.
During the day, experts, policy makers and industry leaders will explore trends in the transition between conventional and electric fleets, cost efficiency challenges, the impact of tariff wars, innovation opportunities and the future green outlook.
The roundtable discussions will address questions such as whether the Trump-Musk dominoes will fall, what the future of green car manufacturing will look like, while also shedding light on new players in the battery industry and the prospects for manufacturing in Hungary. The programme, developed in cooperation between the University of Debrecen and local companies, aims to provide practical strategies and new paradigms to help successfully manage the transformation.
“It is worth talking about electromobility, which requires energy supply. It is needed in the vehicle, and if it becomes self-driving, it is also needed in the control technology: in sensors, in all kinds of control devices on buildings, intersections, traffic lights,” Chancellor Zoltán Bács explained.
The conference is free to attend but registration is required. The registration link can be found here.
More information and the full programme list can be found by clicking this link.
Source and photo credit:dehir.hu
