The Western Group’s Driving Day is unique in the automotive comms calendar by attracting MICA’s PR community to a day of driving, networking and fundraising.
Between members and supporters benchmarking each other’s vehicles, our chair Oliver Rowe and general secretary Liz Turner (pictured above with Western Group chair Gareth Herincx, middle) updated them on MICA plans and activities.
Valuable manufacturer feedback, further ideas and membership sign-ups benefited our training and networking schedule for industry PRs, marketeers and other communicators.
Young MICA lead Mel Lodge was in attendance with employer Genesis, also promoting our latest membership offer to comms newcomers in their first and second roles (launched at the previous MICA event).
With 28 brands bringing 44 vehicles to the 2026 Driving Day, access was easy to a variety of models. Prioritising no particular manufacturer, we were more interested in driving examples of different segments of the market. The BYD Seal fastback, another coupé-style SUV in the DS N°8 Étoile, the Honda Prelude sports car, mid-size BMW iX3 SUV and Ineos Grenadier utility vehicle provided a diverse snapshot of vehicles covering most customer requirements.
Fundraising was split between MICA’s charity partner in WOMAC for the industry, and a second cause in the West Country. MICA contributed to this video summing up the day and we are delighted to already be invited to rejoin the Group and PRs for Driving Day 2027.
