FLEETDRIVE
CONNECTED
COMMERCIALS
More than 100 fleet and mobility
professionals gathered in Brussels for
a 24-hour power event focusing on
connectivity and commercial fleets
in January. Here are 4 lessons the
attendees took home after this year’s
event:
1. Plan your procurement to avoid
unnecessary costs, but build in a
flexible layer to absorb temporary
needs. Choosing an appropriate vehicle
should be determined by maintenance
intervals, by tyre lifecycles and by other
aspects that can have a direct influence
on availability and costs.
2. The hardware is one thing, the
human element another. Driver
monitoring and coaching is key to keep
variable costs at bay.
3. Collaboration is paramount. It’s what
drives innovation, increases security
and creates synergies. Opening up your
platforms and APIs is not about giving
away your competitive advantage, it’s
about staying competitive and therefore
to survive.
4. Telematics is crucial to go electric. It
helps you to determine which vehicles
in your fleet can be EVs, and it’s the
only way to know where your vehicles
are, how much range they have left and
how long it will take to charge them.
SALES SLUMP
New-car sales in Russia this year are set
to fall 2.1 percent to 1.72 million vehicles
after a 2.3 percent drop last year to 1.76
million, the Association of European
Businesses (AEB) said earlier this month.
The forecast puts Russia’s car market on
course for its second annual contraction
in two years, despite sales in December
rising 2.3 percent to 179,235 and
recovering from a 6.4 percent drop the
previous month, according to the AEB.
“The year 2019 proved harder than
expected,” said Joerg Schreiber,
chairman of the AEB automobile
manufacturers committee, which
comprises the majority of automakers
operating in Russia.
The size of Russia’s auto market
“remains small and lower than its
potential,” he told reporters.
Russia’s car market was given a much-
needed boost in 2018 when it expanded
by 13 percent. But falling real incomes
have fueled a subsequent contraction.
Russia’s biggest automaker, AvtoVAZ,
which owns the Lada brand, also
expects the car market to contract again
in 2020, primarily due to depressed
consumer incomes, a company
executive said on Monday.
PARAGUAY
PARTNERSHIP
Brazil and Paraguay this week signed
an agreement to boost trade of autos
and auto parts between the two
countries.
The agreement was announced during
the most recent Mercosur Summit held
in December 2019. Brazil had signed
similar agreements with both Argentina
and Uruguay before. The four countries
are the four founding members of
Mercosur, or the Southern Common
Market.
Under the agreement, Brazil will grant
free trade treatment to Paraguayan
automotive products immediately and
Paraguay will allow Brazilian products
to enter the country with lower taxes,
which are of up to 2 percent and will
gradually decrease until free trade
conditions are met by 2022.
According to the Brazilian government,
the agreement does not have an
expiration date and will be valid for an
indeterminate length of time.
The agreement is regarded as a positive
signal for the Brazilian automotive
sector, which has been suffering from
an decrease of vehicle exports, mainly
due to the prolonged economic crisis in
Argentina, the sector’s main market.
ISSUE 21 2020 / WWW.AFMA.ORG.AU
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