Global Fleet Conference Expert Meeting: High Hopes for Asia
In anticipation of the Global Fleet Summit APAC, planned for December 8th and 9th in Singapore, the 4 founding partners of the conference found themselves in an introductory workshop at the 2020 Global Fleet Conference. They had committed to the challenge to summarize the vast and diverse continent in a 10-minute exposé, each dealing with the matter from their own expertise and experience.
Fleetucation
Dialing in from Sydney, Shane Curran, APAC Director at global consultant Connector, set the scene and spent a few minutes unveiling the diversity of Asia. Shane reminded the audience that this diversity translates into different levels of fleet maturity across the different countries. He demonstrated that the uptake of digitized solutions (mobility) in Asia is spectacular.
Shane shared the 4 most important tips for fleet managers: 1/participate in events and talk to experts as much as possible, 2/prepare for localized fleet management, 3/”Fleetucate” your local teams and 4/implement Asia-centric solutions rather than copying a EU/US model.
The biggest telematics market
Deepak Kadambi, General Manager South East Asia at Geotab continued the conversation by showcasing the growth potential of the Asian region from a telematics point of view. Indeed, Asia presents the unique combination of high GDP growth, a fast-growing middle class, but also the highest congested cities and telematics-friendly legislations. This translates into a massive number of vehicles (from 2-wheelers to 4-wheelers) that need to be kept under control.
Geotab also predicts an important trend towards electrification; Asian countries have not been paying much attention to emissions and are dependent on other countries for fossil fuels. An increasing number of Asian countries are implementing legislations that support EV proliferation.
Leasing: challenged, but growing
Soon to be Malaysia based Jeremy Cleary, Regional CCO at ALD Automotive started with a comparison between France, where 25% of new car registrations are leased cars, and several Asian countries. Except for Australia and Japan, the lease penetration is extremely low. Jeremy explained that leasing is challenged both by funded mobility solutions (e.g. outright purchase, allowances, finance lease) and by shared mobility services (e.g. ride-hailing, micro-mobility, ride-sharing).
The low leasing penetration however does not mean that there’s no future for full service leasing. Jeremy reminds us that corporate clients are looking for consolidation, compliance, transparency and, especially in Asia, for safe solution. International leasing companies, such as ALD, can offer this mix of benefits. ALD has been reinforcing its presence in APAC via its partner network and is offering services in Malaysia, Japan, China and Australia
The new OEM
Pradeep Pandey, General Manager Asia & Oceania at Nissan Motor is positive about Asia’s ability to rebound from the pandemic, but recognizes at the same time that OEMs will need to reinvent themselves, both in product and service offering. The shift to renewable energy and the electrification trend requires OEMs to keep up with new customer demands and behavior. Nissan understands the new value chain and is repositioning itself as a supplier to on-demand, capable of responding to new business models.
Nissan is also unique on the Asian market as the brand offers a truly centralized corporate sales department, complying with corporate procurement strategies – and various other differentiators, such as central billing solutions and buyback agreements
Global Fleet Summit APAC
All speakers at the APAC session at the Global Fleet Conference agreed on one point: Asia has a lot of potential and needs attention from the global fleet manager community. This conversation will continue at the Global Fleet Summit APAC in December in Singapore; click here for more information.
Watch the video of the Expert Meeting here:
If you want to follow the sessions of the 2020 Global Fleet Conference, please click here - access is free but registration is required.