Fleet managers keep fleet strategy relevant and real at IFMI Masterclass
The 2019 Fleet Europe Summit was also the setting for an IFMI Masterclass in which 28 fleet managers take part in presentations, debates and workshops to keep their fleet management strategy up to date.
IFMI is short for International Fleet Managers Institute and it is aimed exclusively at international fleet and mobility managers who gather to discuss today’s trends and challenges and, importantly, to look ahead at what’s coming towards us in the future.
Cost baselines
During various sessions, the participants revisited some fundamental concepts that have changed considerably over the last few years, like cost baselines and TCO. Have these changed or can fleet managers still look at costs the same way we looked at them ten years ago? That’s what they set out to discuss in a number of workshops.
Outsourcing fleet management and picking a sole supply or a multi supply strategy were some of the topics on the agenda. As the Global Fleet Survey demonstrated earlier this year, there seems to be a renewed interest in outsourcing. At the same time, there’s also a renewed trend to go for sole supply deals. Are both trends mutually exclusive or can they be compatible? That was one of the questions the fleet managers tried to answer.
Practical take-aways
IFMI Masterclasses are about giving participants practical take-aways and information that is useful for their daily jobs. That was made possible thanks to a number of expert speakers who shared their views and experiences on a number of pressing topics:
- Sjoerd Brenters, Director Consultancy Services, LeasePlan, and his colleague Dominic Surlis, Specialist Consultant, LeasePlan UK, gave their views on how to make sense of fleet baselines and fleet costs
- Marc Devos, Senior Fleet Manager Europe, Coca-Cola European Partners and Ferenc Hegedus, Global Category Lead Auto Lease, Rental and Ground Transportation, IBM, defended their at times conflicting views on outsourcing fleet management
- Three fleet managers including Laszlo Kiss, Global Category Manager Fleet, Novartis discussed whether a sole supply or a multi supply strategy makes more sense
- Shams-Dine El Mouden, International Consulting, Arval and Mark Taylor, International Account Director, Athlon, took on the topic of WLTP and how it impacts vehicle budgets
- Mazen Al Haffar, Advisor, BDO, gave an overview of changes in taxation in various large European markets
- Anne Chidiac, ALD and Ovidiu Radu, CTO, OviDrive, discussed ways to reconcile connected vehicles with privacy regulations and GDPR.
The IFMI Masterclass is made possible thanks to the participation of the IFMI partners ALD, Arval, Athlon and LeasePlan. Seat graciously provided shuttle cars and offered a meal in a typical Portuguese restaurant.
Image: IFMI Masterclass at the 2019 Fleet Europe Summit, Estoril.
