Leading fleet issues including sustainability and outsourcing came under the spotlight at this week’s International Fleet Meeting 2017.

250 delegates from the fleet and leasing industry attended the event.

Held for the fourth year running during the Geneva Motor Show, the International Fleet Meeting saw 250 fleet managers and representatives from the automotive, leasing and service industries across the globe meet up to receive speeches from top-class speakers alongside a panel discussion and informal networking. 

Speakers included Markus A. Falk, head of global car fleet at SAP AG and Jürgen Freitag, head of global commodity fleet, Siemens AG.

Mr Falk drew attention to the opportunities and challenges that SAP AG had to cope with when outsourcing the vehicle fleet, which operates in more than 20 countries. As well as vehicle management, administrative, legal, commercial, or sustainable aspects had to also be arranged with external service providers.

Mr Freitag of Siemens AG looked at the company’s sustainability record. The German technology company is committed to reducing the CO2 emissions of its fleet, which comprises more than 50,000 vehicles by 30% in the next few years and for it to be CO2-neutral by 2030. To this end, a global strategy was developed in nine months, which sets out guidelines and strict control methods.

In the subsequent panel discussion, which was chaired by Fleet World Group sales director Anne Dopson, Paul Verkinderen, VP Europe and Africa, from Chevin Solutions, emphasized the importance of global reporting in order to harmonise national strategies on an international level. According to Mr Verkinderen, many companies still work on Excel spreadsheets.

In addition, Harald van Meel, head of international key account management VWFS AG, drew attention to the added value of the car manufacturer achieved from synergies between manufacturers, leasing companies and dealer network.

Meanwhile Vinzenz Pflanz, chief sales officer of Sixt Leasing SE, explained that the maturity of fleet management services in Europe between the north-west and south-east is decreasing severely. According to Mr Pflanz the most comprehensive range of services is available in Great Britain. He also outlined three significant advantages to working with an external fleet manager: taking over the operational activities, providing a global fleet reporting and, in the future, increasing monitoring of the driving behaviour.

Next year’s International Fleet Meeting will be held again at the Geneva Motor Show on 7 March by co-organisers, fleetcompetenceeurope GmbH and the Swiss fleet magazine aboutFLEET. Details on topics and speakers will be announced in the coming months.

For information and pictures of the event, visit: www.internationalfleetmeeting.com

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