...what does a transition to solutons look like?

Brand is not dead,... for those who redefine it around a portfolio of solutions. We talked about four things,... advanced vehicles, integrated telematics, comprehensive serviceability and other bundled services.

We're not saying that the vehicle won't still be important; regulatory compliance, hybridization and alternative fuels, aerodynamics and removing weight along with bring as much cost out as possible all remain areas of investment and innovation. Our point is that there has to be more based on the needs of the customer.

In the study we discuss 5 components of integrated telematics; driver assistance, safety, service, regulatory compliance and sustainability. Today's solutions primarily address driver assistance in the form of routing, B2B transactions and basic navigation. The other areas are still developing and are not working together in an integrated manner.

Comprehensive serviceability will also be an important component to future solutions. Serviceabilty must consider both the physical repair of the vehicle and its virtual diagnosis. Today we deal with this primarily through service contracts. Maybe future service deals will be priced based on uptime of the fleet?

As more of the customer base is larger fleets, dealers and OEMs will have to keep parts at more remote locations and be able to optimize the inventory across a more complex service network. As vehicles become more complex, OEMs may have to own some of the service capability and deploy it in a distributed environment to assist dealers and others. As telematics becomes more sophisticated, OEMs will not just be able to read engine fault codes and call for service but also remotely diagnose the entire vehicle, predict failures, proactively order service and optimize the performance and uptime of fleets.

Finally other aligned, bundled services that make sense to package into a solution. This could include consulting such as carbon management, driver education and business efficiency for small vocational customers. It might include retrofitting solutions to assist older vehicles. As telematics data builds across customers it can be repackaged into performance monitoring and fleet health analysis solutions. As fleets eventually move toward plug-in hybrid vehicles they will become capable of distributed energy storage, so alternative energy installations may make sense in those cases. Security services for the vehicle and driver may also help over the road fleets... OEMs should look to extend the sale of the vehicle to a solution in any variety of ways that make sense for its application.


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