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CNN Business
Startup automakers, like Lucid and Rivian, often make the point that, as Tesla has shown, electric car shoppers are open to trying new brands. What’s true for startups, though, is also true for big automakers like Ford, General Motors and Volkswagen.
For those long-established car companies, new electric vehicles are attracting customers who are not current owners of their brands. That means electric vehicles are bringing in those always sought after “conquest sales.” These are sales that automakers hope create new long-term customers.
Among buyers of the new Ford Mustang Mach-E, almost 70% were not already Ford customers. For most Ford models, only 42% are trading in a non-Ford vehicle. For General Motors’ Chevrolet brand, the trend is similar. Among buyers of the Chevrolet Bolt models, 60% were new to the Chevrolet brand.
Read the article at CNN Business.
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Jalopnik
Police in Aurora, Ontario identified five separate incidents where thieves have surreptitiously slipped an AirTag on to a “high-end vehicle” with the intent to steal it. The thieves’ technique is to leave the tracker somewhere on a target vehicle, then follow its location in Apple’s Find My app to discover where it’s parked.
When Apple first released AirTags earlier this year, concerns immediately sprung up about nefarious use cases for the covert trackers. Apple responded with a slew of anti-stalking measures, but those are more intended for keeping people safe than cars.
An AirTag away from its owner will sound an alarm, letting anyone nearby know that it’s been left behind, but it can take up to 24 hours for that alarm to go off — more than enough time to nab a car in the dead of night.
Read the article at Jalopnik.
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McKinsey & Company
Car manufacturers once competed largely on their engineering capabilities: superior driving performance and reliability were their marketing boasts. These qualities still matter, but they are table stakes. The new battleground is customer experience.
In a world of electric, connected, and autonomous vehicles, OEMs face a considerable challenge if they intend to keep pace. They will need to rapidly discover, design, scale, and constantly refine solutions that thrill customers, generate new sources of revenue, and keep costs in check – an approach honed by leading customer-centric companies.
Leadership from the CEO and a chief experience office will be key to establishing the components of a transformation: a new business model, and the ability to scale fast, to amass data at every customer touchpoint, and to measure the customer experience in a manner that reveals precisely how to improve it.
Read the article at McKinsey & Company.
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Autoblog
Google has revealed a slew of features and updates for Android 12. The digital car key function that was announced at Google I/O in May is now available on Pixel 6, Pixel 6 Pro and Samsung Galaxy S21 for compatible BMW vehicles in select countries.
You can use your phone to lock and unlock the doors, and start the engine. The feature is likely coming to other vehicles later – Google has been working with other, unnamed automakers on support for digital car keys.
There’s now an option to open Android Auto automatically when you connect your device to a compatible car. In addition, the home screen will have an always-on play button, so you can fire up your favorite music with a single tap.
Read the article at Autoblog.
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Strategy+business
Today’s vision of teamwork has shifted from a system that revolves around an individual to a system that revolves around all the individuals working together: collective functioning.
Collective functioning is about what can be harnessed and created from the intersections of people’s skills and emotions; it’s the emotions that create a ripple effect that forms a culture.
Teams that share resources, and have flexibility and opportunities for collective learning, still might underachieve if their structure and leadership are wrong. But get those elements right, and the team will flourish. If the value of an organization is based on a combination of each employee’s contributions, then success is determined by the weakest of those employees, not the strongest.
Teammates who collaborate more effectively, in any organization, can outperform those whose individual skills may be superior. The key is to discover who works best with whom, and who brings out the best in others. Teams that recognize the power of collective functioning and have leaders who create environments for those partnerships to flourish reap the benefits.
Read the article at strategy+business.
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By Richard Mallek, Director of Business Development/FLD Remarketing
December – it’s a month that everyone looks forward to. This year, that’s probably even more true, as the world does its best to move past Covid to experience the joy and familiarity the holidays bring.
In the fleet space, as in most industries, December is a time to not only put the finishing touches on the previous eleven months, but to get one’s “ducks” in a row for the year ahead. Right sizing fleets. Planning strategy. And getting excess inventory off the books.
At FLD, December has been an especially busy time ever since we first pioneered the space nearly 45 years ago. That’s because as the only remarketing provider that gives customers a quote – and gets them paid – in less than a week, we know fleets will turn to us to get their transactions wrapped up quickly, and them prepared for the year ahead.
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Art Liggio, President & CEO, Driving Dynamics
The holidays are here, and we’re excited to welcome the bright lights and warmth that comes with the season.
We all had a great deal of hope riding into 2021 and despite health and economic challenges, we’re grateful that many of the customers we serve and the overall fleet community, are making steady progress in resuming operations and, in many cases, exceeding expectations.
At Driving Dynamics, we’ve been busy adding new programs to address the everchanging issues affecting safe driving performance. With 34 years of service now behind us, we’ve been honored this year to reach the highest number of enrollments in the company’s history. We thank you for the privilege of guiding your drivers toward safety excellence.
While we understand that there are many challenges ahead, this is a time of year to pause and enjoy some good cheer. With that, the staff and management at Driving Dynamics would like to share a well-known Christmas poem, but with our own fun little twist. Enjoy!
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