Zooming in on Latin America
In the final hours of the 2018 Global Fleet Conference in Rome, event organizer Nexus Communication wrapped up the event with a special session on the key drivers and important figures for the fleet market in Latin America. Here are just a few of the many key takeaways from the speakers.
First of all, the session started with an update on the latest news regarding the Global Fleet Advisory Board Latin America by Board President Pascal Serres and the presentation of the new Fleet LatAm magazine by Nexus Communication CEO Caroline Thonnon. The first speaker to follow was Frost & Sullivan consultant Yeswant Abhimanyu.
“Although it is expected that Leasing will increase as an alternative option for company cars, outright purchasing of fleets is still of strong interest. Fleet outsourcing, however, is an attractive solution,” said Abhimanyu who is the company’s principal consultant for automotive and digital transformation in Latin America.
He was followed by Joao Andrade who is managing director of Brazil’s Localiza Fleet Solutions.
“Brazil has complications that you need to prepare for, such as bad road conditions, high cases of car theft and traffic accidents, and very expensive cars,” Andrade said, adding that Uber is very popular in the country and that some company’s even have an Uber budget for their employees.”
“Take time to learn about the region you want to do business in, knowing the similarities and differences of each country. Not only the culture and current practices, but the economy, interest rates, infrastructure, and available technologies,” said Rodrigo Monroy, Latam-Japac fleet manager for multinational pharmaceuticals company Abbvie.
Pascal Serres opens Latin America session (Source: Nexus Communication)
Following him was Kent Bjertrup who is the LatAm regional director for international vehicle leasing company ALD Automotive. “Among the upcoming trends in Latin America are using telematics for cost control and vehicle tracking, as well as offering alternative (non-car) mobility solutions,” said Bjertrup.
Wrapping up the session were talks by Kay Saunders who is the Global Fleet Development Manager for the Volvo Car Corporation and Carlos Montenegro, General Manager of Global Corporate Sales for the Nissan Motor Corporation.
As a follow-up to what was said earlier about the large incidents of traffic accidents in Latin America, “I’d like to say that our dedication to safety has reduced the risk for Volvo drivers and passengers of being seriously injured in an accident by 50% over a ten-year period,” Saunders said.
Last but not least, “By 2030, the number of electric vehicles in Latin America’s total fleet should increase to 25% from 1% and autonomous driving should jump to 15% from 0%,” said Montenegro.
Image: Pascal Serres, President of the LatAm Advisory Board
