IAN Pienaar from M+Z Mahindra Windhoek was nominated to represent South Africa at the annual Global Tek Fest in India.
Speaking to Top Revs, Pienaar narrated how he started as a technician at Mahindra 12 years ago when the brand was still under Spes Bona and how his career grew until today where he is now employed as workshop manager at M+Z Mahindra.
The nominees from various countries across the globe were selected by Mahindra India and had to undergo a series of oral tests and interviews online to qualify for this prestigious event that kicked off over the weekend.
The 25-point questionnaire is compulsory for all dealers, Pienaar said, and then Mahindra India zooms in on the finalists with more tests and interviews.
As the qualifying process neared its end, the tests became more technical and more intense, Pienaar added.
Initially, Pienaar thought he did not make it after he did not get any correspondence following a Skype meeting with one of Mahindra’s managers late last year.
“It was only beginning of the January that I was informed that I was a finalist for South Africa and had to represent the brand in India,” Pienaar said.
Once in India, the finalist will have again one-on-one interviews with technicians from Mahindra before getting to the final practical test.
Pienaar said the finalists were informed they have to find and fix a technical problem on why the car does not want to start. This, he said, will be a challenge as Mahindra tampered with the test vehicle, and the finalist has to find the problem. This final exercise in Mumbai will determine why the finalists were nominated to represent their respective countries.
But it will not be all official duties, as Mahindra slotted in some leisure and sight-seeing time to enjoy the sounds and colours of India, Pienaar said.
Finalists from Australia, Chile, Bangladesh, Guatemala, Paraguay, Mozambique, Kenya, Saudi Arabia and Sri Lanka will take part in this Tech Fest.
The theme this year is “Mahindra: Master of Masters, Gut, Grit and Glory.”
Pienaar is expected back in Namibia towards the end of this week.
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