Fleet Europe Summit: finally, the mobility puzzle pieces fall into place

“Oh, to be alive in such an age, when miracles are everywhere, and every inch of common air throbs a tremendous prophecy, of greater marvels yet to be.” Walt Whitman probably wasn’t thinking of Smart Mobility when he wrote those lines. But I was thinking of them during the Fleet Europe Summit, hearing how far Smart Mobility has come – and how much further it will soon go. 

For this is the time when the multimodal pieces of the mobility puzzle all start falling into place. As demonstrated by ALD’s presentation of ALD Move. Because ALD Move goes far beyond a mere app. It’s a versatile end-to-end mobility platform, designed in concert with ALD’s clients, explained Amélie de Valroger, ALD’s Head of Business Intelligence division:

Crucial insight
“We started the journey towards ALD Move three years ago by talking to our clients, and finding out that they had similar concerns, including how to increase the sustainability of their choices, and how to attract new talent, as millennial employees have different expectations from previous generations.”

Perhaps the crucial insight underpinning ALD Move: the future of mobility will not offer a choice between the ‘classic’ company car and all the other mobility modes, but will present the best possible marriage of old and new. The future is not or/or, but and/and. The exact mix all depends on the preferences of the driver, and the mobility policies of their company. 

User-centred flexibility
And those variables can easily be taken on board by the platform, which can measure the journey towards successfully achieving those goals. It’s exactly this customer- and user-centred flexibility which makes a programme like ALD Move so promisingly universal. 

Says Lonnneke van der Horst, Marketing & Strategy Director at ALD Netherlands, who has helped develop ALD Move from its beginnings, three years ago: “ALD Move started as a manual experiment, with us giving advice to individual drivers via WhatsApp. The idea was to find out whether we could change behaviour by offering information about mobility alternatives, and after just a few days, it turned out that we were successful.”

Reduce footprints
“So we could go on and transform our advice tool into a mobility integration solution that can help companies reduce their CO2 footprints and their cost. And that solution is now ready for international rollout. Our one key objective for 2025 is to be present in all major European cities.”

So this is it. The moment when the fractured and frankly messy world of mobility innovation is captured by an app – pardon my French, a platform – that provides both flexibility and stability, and that itself can be adapted to user demands and market changes. ALD Move may not be the only one, but it is a good example of the kind of tool that is about to change corporate mobility beyond recognition. 

“Huge benefit”
But don’t just take our word for it. We’re not the only ones to sense that this is a Whitmanesque moment. Jarno Pajunen, Global Category Manager for Nokia, also commented on the inspired notion that true innovation combines old with new. 

“The future of corporate mobility will still revolve a lot around the traditional, leased company car. But at the same time, that company car is no longer seen as the huge benefit that it once was. Younger employees are more environmentally conscious, and demand more MaaS solutions.”

From MaaS to BaaS
In fact, he already sees what will come after Mobility-as-a-Service: “The move towards MaaS should be continued towards Benefits as a Service, or BaaS, where you have the opportunity to offer your employees not just strict mobility offerings, but also gym subscriptions, health products, food options, etcetera.”

The future of mobility truly is amazing. And even Whitman didn’t foresee that there would also be snacks. 

For more interesting insights into the future of mobility, here’s our review of the CEO Panel Discussion on Fleet & Mobility in the New Normal.

For Nokia, the sky is no longer the limit – it will build the first cellular network on the Moon: a sign of the speed at which communication and mobility are evolving.
Image: Fleet Europe