Festival of Motoring 2025: New Golf 8.5 GTI, youth steers motoring industry & other insights

CapeTalk's Lester Kiewit speaks to author of `The Hitchhiker's Guide to AI' and Founder of World Wide Worx, Arthur Goldstuck.

Listen below:

The Festival of Motoring took place from 29–31 August at the Kyalami Grand Prix Circuit in Midrand, Johannesburg. Over the years, the festival has grown into the largest industry-supported auto show in South Africa and across the continent.

Since its launch, the event has been driven by a vision to create a dynamic automotive community, where industry leaders, car enthusiasts, and aspiring buyers come together for three days of high-octane excitement, innovation, and family-friendly fun.

One of the key highlights, according to Arthur Goldstuck, was a market insight shared by WesBank: the majority of their vehicle finance clients are under the age of 35. This indicates a powerful trend, South African youth are steering the future of mobility in the country.

Meanwhile, Volkswagen made waves at the festival with the unveiling of the new Golf GTI, officially the Golf 8.5 GTI. This refreshed model features sleek new LED headlights, a redesigned interior with updated infotainment, back-lit controls, and a refined user interface. Under the hood, it retains the 2.0 TSI engine pushing out 195kW, with improved handling courtesy of a quicker Vehicle Dynamics Manager.

The 2025 Golf 8.5 GTI has been confirmed for the South African market and will be available from November 2025.

Scroll up to the audio player for more.