MaaS, the future is happening now

The first session of the Smart Mobility Talks dealt with Mobility as a Service (MaaS). Are you curious what MaaS has to do with fleet management? Here's a short overview. You can also follow us on Twitter at #fleeteuropesummit and you can join us at next year's Fleet Europe Summit in Estoril.

Data is the new oil

‘Data is the new oil and it is here to stay,’ says Vipin Moharir (founder, AutoFacets), explaining how digitisation can be a facilitator for MaaS, and how all automotive companies will eventually become IT companies, and how the fleet industry is the right place to start.

The future is happening now

But why are we even talking about MaaS on a fleet event, Octavian Chelu (Frost & Sullivan, Principal Consultant) asks. Because Maas is no longer an exclusive business for MaaS providers! Companies like Uber and Lyft are moving in, and so are fleet managers. ‘We believe that the future is going to be for those companies that really are becoming a mobility provider,’ he explains, ‘Now we are talking about leasing companies, but in the future it will be mobility providers. And that future is now.’

Start small

How some companies are already implementing and profiting from MaaS was explained by Andrea Renna (Head Business Development Europe, SkedGo). ‘You cannot sell a car anymore, you have to sell a service,’ he explained, which creates challenges but opportunities as well. His company helps other companies implement MaaS. As a general tip, he says: ‘Start small!’

Image: Octavian Chelu at the Smart Mobility Talks in the 2018 Fleet Europe Village.