Fleet Europe Summit Day 2: “Be brave and take decisions”
Electrification is the way forward and much as flexibility is high on the agenda, three- to four-year contracts are still the norm. That’s just one of the conclusions of the second and final day of the 2020 Fleet Europe Summit. Some highlights from the entire day.
“There is no shift in contract duration,” said LeasePlan CEO Tex Gunning during a keynote discussion. “Three- to four-year contracts are still the standard as they offer the best value proposition. Most people want access to a car around the clock and long-term leasing offers that convenience.”
He did see a market for more flexibility: “Those living in cities have a more punctual demand and can indeed benefit from more flexible solutions.”
Konstantin Sixt, Member of the Managing Board and Chief Sales Officer at Sixt SE responded: “B2B and B2C customers realise that the most expensive assets in their lives are their house and their car. They look for solutions that allow them to only pay for the use instead of the ownership, and increasingly so.”
TCO gap
In many cases, this flexible mobility will be electrified. Nevertheless, our expert speakers believe continued government subsidies are needed. Gian Avignone, Global Head of Automotive, ChargePoint: “Subsidies are needed over the next years, but also an increasing charging infrastructure.”
At the Remarketing Forum, Dirk-Marco Adams, Chief Sales Officer at Autovista Group, said: “Without government incentives, you have about a €5,000 TCO gap between EVs and ICEs. While the TCO of EVs will improve over time, that gap cannot be bridged at present.”
Thomas Björnsson, Vice President e-Mobility, Vattenfall, said: “Fragmentation in the charging market is an issue in some countries but the Netherlands show that one-card-for-all is possible.”
80/20 harmonisation
“One size does not fit all,” said Thierry Faure, Head of Sales & Client Relations International Key Accounts, ALD Automotive, adding it is better to aim for an 80/20 harmonisation approach. He gave various reasons to do so: dealing with multiple currencies, the mix of stable and volatile countries, a lack of consistency offered by fleet management companies to name just a few.
Flexible mobility services are just one example of a mobility offering that often lacks consistency between countries or even between cities.
John Saffrett, Deputy CEO, ALD Automotive, said: “The digital mobility ecosystem is so big and so diverse that it won’t be one company that wins, it will be collaborations between companies that create the best client experience. The skill is to build an ecosystem of those partnerships to help you win. Finding the right combination of tech companies, urban mobility providers, clients, suppliers, the right technology to bring them together are key.”
What does strategy mean?
Technology makes it easier to dedicate time to strategy development, said Yves Helven, Co-founder, CMaaS:“Managing a fleet in the connected world gives the fleet manager much more time to work on strategy because all the annoying parts of the job, like invoice control, can be digitised. But the change is even more about what strategy means – today we are mostly talking about cost saving, sustainability and supply chains, but tomorrow it’s going to be a lot more about integrating connected services, managing employee behaviour and plugging in the right vendors into the ecosystem of the client.”
Jorge Fernandez of Roche and 2019 Global Fleet Manager of the Year, appealed to fleet managers to seize the opportunity: “We’re facing challenges but challenges lead to opportunities. Fleet Management needs to take leadership. It’s time to take a step forward, be brave and take decisions.”
Image: Jorge Fernández (Roche), 2019 Global Fleet Manager of the Year
Authors: Frank Jacobs, Jonathan Manning, Dieter Quartier, Benjamin Uyttebroeck