NAFA at AutoMobility LA: Major Change in Mobility Coming Faster Than Expected

Mobility will redefine the fleet management field and, in turn, fleet and mobility will become the proving ground for radical change in all forms of transportation. While this is hard to dispute, the knowledge and language involved with mobility is not yet clearly defined. It is, in fact, in the midst of being written.

To better define and direct NAFA members in what to expect, NAFA’s Director of Marketing and Communications Ken Hunter, APR, attended the AutoMobility LA conference, which took place on November 27-30 at the Los Angeles Convention Center.

The mission of the conference is to foster interaction and innovation among businesses, organizations, and government offices involved both directly and tangentially in the new mobility industry. Over four days, attendees took part in several panels, discussions, and challenges, as well as tours of new vehicle exhibits and automotive vendors.

Keynote addresses from executives included Peter Schwarzenbauer, a Member of the Board of Management of BMW AG Mini, Rolls-Royce, BMW Motorrad, Customer Engagement and Digital Business Innovation, BMW Group.

 

"In autonomy, OEMs know that safety and trust become more important than ever, as drivers and passengers are essentially trusting their lives to a robot," Schwarzenbauer said. Although the progression of autonomous vehicles is still evolving, he noted we should remember that manufacturers have track records of very complex and very safe hardware. He added,  "so this isn’t like building the first car ever." The same applies for another significant concern: data security."

Another prediction from BMW: "Premium on Demand," a service posed to challenge carsharing services like Uber and Lyft, will be bigger for BMW than leasing; one reason, Schwarzenbauer notes: Thirty percent of traffic around the world right now is searching for a parking space.

According to Nick Starrett, contributor to CNET’s Roadshow site, the three forces changing cars today are: Electrification (prediction: 35 percent of new car sales by 2040); Connectivity (prediction: 75 percent of 90 million new cars sold annually by 2020 will be connected); and Autonomy (prediction: 10 million full/partial autonomous cars on the road worldwide by 2020).

 

Is there a "real" backlash against autonomy? Although polling says yes, Starrett believes this polling is flawed and adaptation will grow quickly once the technology is proven.

Panasonic CEO Tom Gebhardt cited four major trends that will remake mobility:

⦁ App-based mobility services – if they become faster, better, and cheaper, the consumer will follow
⦁ Electrification of the powertrain – if all things are created equal, and green, then consumers will buy electric vehicles. Gebhardt predicts 2020 will be when consumers won’t have to make distance and performance compromises anymore and will adopt green in vehicles in a wide way
⦁ Connectivity – there will be more "personalization" of the car to the extent the consumer thinks they have something new; connectivity is the enabler; there is significant safety and time-saving potential with this technology
⦁ Automated driving – consumers will want this as they can do something different with their time; he predicts by 2030 15 million autonomous vehicles will be on the road. The motivator for change will be the value of consumers’ time