Car Sharing is a major mobility trend that is unfolding across the globe. Often in most markets, it’s people from outside the industry with a strong grasp of technology that is pioneering this new business model. There are many facets to car sharing; free floating, A to B, Station Based, Ride Sharing and now even corporates are beginning to ditch pool vehicle fleet for Car Sharing. There’s also the Peer to Peer model championed by the likes of Car Next Door.

The scenario in Malaysia is no different, there are several examples of digital natives leading innovative Car Sharing platforms like GoCar, Kwikcar, Moovby and off course Socar. If the ride hailing industry is a yardstick of measurement, the number of players are certain to increase to a point of saturation. Traditional rental companies like Hertz and Enterprise are already trialling vehicle subscription models and their edeavours will intensify in due course.
 
There are three things that every car sharing business should be mindful of: 

#1: There’s an “Old School” Problem that refuses to go away
Regardless of how we access car ownership and mobility, there is still one very old school problem that just doesn’t go away even in car sharing models. That is, the onerous task of managing all the vehicles. A challenge, that even traditional large fleet owners have been grappling with for many years. Traditional large fleet owners have had to endure the following as a result of a very demanding vehicle management environment.

1. Administration: Every vehicle has a lifecycle plan and fleet managers spend considerable amounts of time managing these vehicles according to their respective plans. Traditionally a full-time employee (FTE), can barely manage a thousand cars seamlessly. That number seems to drop in car sharing due to the increased touch points. 
2. Maintenance: Keeping vehicles maintained on time as per OEM recommendations is a challenge. Not only is it bad to miss service cycles, it can also result in higher cost of ownership. That said, many car sharing models utilise operating leases where the vehicle is still under warranty and maintenance is managed by the OEM or dealership. However, it’s the unplanned maintenance that can throw a spanner in works. Hours are spent coordinating appointments for repairs and organising replacement cars. Ultimately resulting in low productivity.
3. Driver Communication: Staying in contact with drivers can be a challenge especially in mid to long term leases. Fleet Managers have long struggled with simple tasks that relate to seamless communication. That then results in to compliance issues relating to over run registrations (road tax) or missed mandatory vehicle inspection. The driver experience will be even more important in car share models as companies seek to build a customer centric business model.

While car sharing will pioneer new opportunities and mobility trends. Digital natives will not be exempted from the above challenges and will need to tackle them in order to improve their ability to manage fleet and scale quickly.

#2: Barriers to entry are low and traditional players will want a piece of the pie
As easy as it was for digital natives to enter the car sharing segment, there will be increased competition. The biggest threat will come from the established car rental businesses and OEM’s that are seeking to penetrate this segment and here’s why these traditional players will be a huge threat:

1. Economies of Fleet Management:  The traditional players have had a head start at understanding fleet management. They are more experienced across the life cycle from acquisition to disposal of vehicles. They have experienced first hand the frustrations that are associated with mid to long term leases and the pitfalls to avoid.
2. Systems and Process: Albeit disconnected and disjointed, traditional car rental businesses have more experience running systems that support the entire life cycle. It’s just that they have not kept pace with technology such as cloud-based applications. This is changing because across the region technology companies are having conversations with traditional rental companies to modernise their systems and processes in order to support innovative business models such as car sharing. 
3. Supplier Stack and Volume: Traditional car rental companies not only have established supplier stacks across the country. Which is critical in ensuring that vehicle health is upheld at all times as that has a direct correlation to lowering the total cost of fleet ownership (TCO). These rental companies have the advantage of volume which in turn enables them to secure more competitive pricing from their supplier stack. 

While, the rental companies may appear to be coming a bit later to the car sharing party. They do have some significant learnings that can collapse time and monetise quicker. Also, sometimes it’s better to be second and not first in new mobility trends. As that gives one the opportunity to sit back and soak in what the competition is doing and how industry and government is responding. But be rest assured the traditional players are coming, Just ask Sime Darby Malaysia about their aspirations within the ride hailing sector.
 
#3 Continue to lead and set the phase for OEM’s to follow
OEM’s are at the crossroads of figuring out the impact of Mobility as a Service (MaaS) amidst the changing landscape of digital, electrification and autonomous. Industry has followed car sharing companies closely for two reasons. One, the car sharing companies are an emerging segment for fleet sales. Secondly, car sharing companies can help OEM’s collapse time and get to the car sharing market segment quicker.
Therefore, in order to stay ahead of the market and remain competitive in the MaaS ecosystem. Digital natives should aim to shape car sharing in the following ways and prepare their customers for what lies ahead: 

1. Electrification: Like it or not, Electric Vehicles (EV) are coming. Not only are governments going to ban the internal combustion engines (ICE), OEM’s like VW have made the bold decision to shut down ICE engine production in the next 5-6 years. Car Sharing companies are in an enviable position to help drivers come to terms and prepare for EV’s. They have access to critical data pertaining to the distance of average driving per day and are in a powerful position to ease range anxiety concerns among their drivers
2. Building a new ecosystem: Charging infrastructure goes hand in hand with EV’s and in the UK charging stations has already outnumbered fuel stations. This represents significant opportunities to partner with fuel providers to explore new business models. It doesn’t just stop there. Service centres will also be impacted. EV’s have significantly less moving parts and require less maintenance. Which will result in increased competition for consumables like tyres, wiper blades and developing new services around inspections and compliance. There is also opportunity to improve the upstream well to wheel emissions by building sustainable partnerships with green energy providers.

​Ultimately, the biggest asset car sharing companies have over the OEM’s is that human relationship with a “tribe” of people that believe in shared mobility. Regardless of whether these people are driven by the increasing cost of urbanisation or are just  seeking to build a sustainable green future? Digital natives have got to them first and it’s not easy to replicate. This relationship is a core competency certainly worth preserving and fighting for.
 
In closing – It’s ultimately about Fleet Management 
In summary, what digital natives have achieved is highly commendable but the sleeping giants have woken up. They are modernising their systems and refreshing their outlook on mobility. The edge digital natives have is not only first mover advantage but that irreplaceable bond of trust in the MaaS ecosystem. To stay ahead, they need to nurture this relationship and go one better than their predecessors by comprehensively solving fleet challenges. At the end of the day, car sharing is more to do with fleet management than it is to do with software.
 

Connected Car Company launches in Malaysia. For more details, please contact:
 Rizal Khan, Co-Founder,The Connected Car Company
​Email: rkhan@connectedcar.asia  Tel: +6012 2010002

The Customer Experience (CX) challenge of the retail industry 
Retail is a high stakes industry. It’s constantly evolving and at the mercy of the type experience it can deliver to its customer base. Traditional retailers have opted for omnichannel sales models and now allow customers to either buy instore or online.

The importance of the Last Mile Delivery Process 
However there is one piece to the supply chain that has not changed dramatically, that is delivering the goods (and services) to the customer’s final location. Retailers often rely on 3rd party contractors to deliver these items to the customer and face the following challenges in this last mile delivery (LMD):

• The delivery person is sometimes the ONLY person that the customer will ever meet in the sales process and that interaction is critical from a brand preservation and CX standpoint
• Buyers also want more options in terms of dictating how quickly they want a service or product delivered
• Probably the most important things is, they want greater control and want to know exactly where their items are and have an accurate understanding of when exactly they will be served 

​The tangible benefits a positive LMD experience 
It’s important to get the delivery process right because it has a direct impact in retaining the customer’s trust and is most likely to generate repeat sales. The following are the benefits a of a sound LMD process as reported by Cap Gemini

A solution worth knowing about
The Connected Car Company has teamed with a leading digital LMD provider that can help retailers still maintain a high degree of control in the outsourced LMD process, while providing a clear and transparent view of each delivery to the customer. It also allows the customer to provide instant feedback on their experience and communicate directly with the service provider or retailer. This application is suitable for any company providing a service or product to the last mile. To know more, please go here
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Shared mobility and Mobility as a service, are all coming. and will further disrupt dealerships. For now, start the journey to future proof your business. While generating new streams of revenue. After all, fleet customers are willing to pay for connectivity and dealerships are in an enviable position as they have solid relationships with customers already. Most have been servicing a customer for umpteen years - and this is a core competency that even the OEM's would envy.

What this means to NFP’s that operate fleet vehicles to carry out their service?

Efficiency in vehicle utilisation will be a Competitive Advantage  

• The NDIS changes is calling for NFP’s to operate more efficiently. Supported by clear systems, efficient vehicle utilisation can drive productivity levels and increase customer satisfaction.
• Additionally, effective vehicle utilisation can develop an unrivalled safety culture and reduce vehicle operating cost.​

Efficient vehicle utilisation will improve payment compliance

• According to the NDIS Service Provider “Tool Kit”, completed services need to be substantiated with support documents such as “Support Logs”. There is a clear way to link vehicle utilisation to automate some of these reports.
• To not only support payment claims but create a trail of auditable information for years to come.  ​

How to leverage on the Connected Vehicle in your Not for Profit ?

We and our partners have experience managing fleet challenges for NFP's. To understand how we can help. please drop us an email : info@connectedcar.asia 

I was fortunate enough to hear from the National Fleet Sales Manager of this brand. I took away 3 key points from their presentation:

1. Safety and Big Data Analytics: Maintaining driver and fleet safety remains a top priority. But now there is greater emphasis on big data analytics. There is a clear business case to package telematics according to business needs and delivering meaningful and actionable insight from this data

1. Fleet excellence has many facets: The value chain of fleet excellence has many facets and players that need to come together to create a unified unrivaled experience for customers. Fleet buying patterns are also changing which is adding to this complexity

1. Partnerships are pivotal: Partnerships are not only important to create an ecosystem of partners for telematics, road side assistance or finance and insurance. Partnerships are paramount in unlocking new connected vehicle business models to realise new revenue streams and improve customer engagement

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In summary, the points that this company raised not only help demonstrate why there are number one but provides an insight as to why they will most likely remain the preferred brand and potentially widen the gap between them and their respective rivals

If designed correctly, a Connected Car Program can deliver the following benefits to dealerships:

Send vehicles back in to dealerships for Planned Maintenance

• An automated system that can seamlessly send reminders to all parties when an OEM recommended scheduled service is due
• Pretty straight forward, and some basic telematics systems are already offering this functionality

 
Send vehicles back in to dealerships for  Unplanned Maintenance

• The real value is in the ability to assist the customer, with managing this process. The challenge is not so much about fixing the maintenance issue rather providing a transparent process flow in real time that is cost effective.
• Equally important is, helping the customer keep control and have visibility of the process while driving these vehicles back in to the dealerships service ecosystem

 
Tackle Mixed Fleet Challenges  

• Dealerships will have customers from other OEM’s who might already have aftermarket telematics connectivity
• At the same time, they might have fleet that need an aftermarket telematics solution. A robust connected car strategy will be able to account for both scenarios.

 
Provide the right data, to the right stakeholders   

• A good solution will be able to package the telematics data according to the right stakeholders. Fleet Owners will need data that can improve safety and productivity  
• While DTC codes are highly desirable, this is still an emerging topic but accurate odometer is a great starting point for dealerships

 
Adding value to the Fleet Customer and Preparing for the Future

• The future is EV, MaaS, autonomous and a shared economy. A scalable connected car strategy needs to empower dealerships to prepare for these challenges
• It’s pivotal that dealerships have the ability to start providing a “managed service” now rather than later while helping customers to reduce fleet TCO

​In summary, the “connected car” means different things to different to different stakeholders. For dealerships to truly leverage on it’s potential. It needs to be designed in a way that it will deliver most value to dealerships.  Don’t hesitate to contact us if you want to find out more 

Lately many local OEM’s are offering telematics services. Some are going to market by establishing strategic partnerships with established Telematics Service Providers (TSP). However, often the data that is derived from these systems are no different from what the TSP’s have been doing independently for almost 20 years.

The telematics market is already saturated with many competitors. OEM’s that white label an established after market telematics solution is only adding to an already congested market segment. Worse still, they might get pulled in to a fierce price war that is already happening within the segment. 
So what’s the way forward for OEM’s and Automotive Distributors?

• Definitely embrace Digital as it’s a key enabler “Connecting vehicles” has some significant benefits to OEM’s and dealerships. But to solve their challenges they don’t need to be a TSP. The data that is going to help them drive vehicles back in to their service ecosystem is odometer (fault codes too) not so much location, driver behaviours, productivity …etc that has been the focus of TSP’s

• Build an ecosystem of partnerships Customers have mixed fleets and possibly existing relationships with other TSP’s. Therefore it’s more important to have the ability to work with any TSP or at least the major players in the segment. There’s no TSP that can build a complete product road map for the entire market, there will be one’s with unique strengths and it makes commercial sense to include them in your ecosystem

• Prepare for the future – it might take the form of a new business model Digital offers stakeholders the capability to do something that could previously not be done. The same applies to the OEM and automotive sector. EV’s and Mobility as a Service (MaaS) will impact sales growth and certainly servicing revenue as EV’s will require less frequent servicing. Digital can help OEM’s and automotive stakeholders to evolve their business model to address this

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In summary, it’s great to see OEM’s and automotive stakeholders recognise the importance of digital but offering a telematics solution is nothing revolutionary. The sector is over serviced and Telcos have also jumped on the bandwagon in a market that is very price sensitive. 
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OEM’s and automotive stakeholders should leverage on digital but remain above “chaos” that currently exists in the telematics sector. Get in touch with us, if you want to know more  

​Much has been said about the Connected Car. Yet there are so many questions still surrounding the concept of the Connected Car and how it will deliver value to each stakeholder group within the Value Chain.  

Firstly the Connected Car is operating in a volatile environment - there is change happening and the biggest change is embedded connectivity that will be included in vehicles as they roll off the production line. Therefore, impacting the business models of Telematics Service Providers (TSP) that depend on revenue from telematics hardware.

Volatility aside, the Connected Car Industry is uncertain.  While we know that embedded connectivity is the way forward, OEM's are yet to confirm when this will happen and what geographical markets will take precedence. Despite this, industry players still need to persevere and continue to build capability and a product roadmap that will hold them in good stead to meet this challenge.

Above all, the Connected Car value chain is complex. It’s no longer dominated by aftermarket TSP’s. Telco’s and OEM’s also see the value in having market share in the sector to solve their own unique business challenges. Therefore, a “one size fits all” Connected Vehicle solution will not enable all these stakeholders to meet their business goals. Worse still in the OEM space, there is a high dependency on the dealer network to facilitate customer uptake. These dealerships are not prepared for this challenge.

Adding to these challenges is, the Connected Car Segment is ambiguous. There is no universal standard in respect to what defines the features of a solid connected car software solution. Different segments, need different features and functionality. There’s no clear winner yet, therefore it’s paramount that stakeholders define their goals and undertake the effort to assign the right resource to help them succeed