Fleet technology entrepreneurs from across Europe have met at London’s Savoy Hotel to strengthen business collaboration and forge closer ties between the 17 telematics companies of the 1-Fleet Alliance.
The members of the 1-Fleet Alliance together track more than 500,000 vehicles throughout Europe. Following previous meetings in Barcelona and Budapest, the group has now agreed to form 1-Fleet Corporation, a commercial entity to represent the interests of the majority of the members. Objectives include collaboration and networking, promoting innovation and telematics industry standardization, as well as joint marketing and commercial agreements. The meeting saw the appointment of Pedro Zamith, a well-known figure in the automotive technology arena, to oversee the development and launch of commercial propositions on behalf of 1-Fleet Corporation.
Telematics-based fleet management in Europe has been gaining momentum and is expected to have a consolidated growth in the next few years. Berg Insight estimates compound annual growth rates of around 15% from the years 2014 up to 2019. The region still faces asymmetries in terms of adoption, with Belgium, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, the UK and Ireland, being the most advanced markets, followed by Germany, France, Central Europe and Nordic countries. The Mediterranean countries have been the slowest to adopt telematics systems. The 1-Fleet group is the first ever pan-European alliance between leaders in the fleet technology and telematics field, and allows commercial fleet operators to benefit from the combined strength, global expertise and innovation brought by the diverse membership of the partnership. The Alliance aims to promote innovation and economies of scale, and develop the telematics industry ecosystem through collaboration between its members.
“This was a landmark meeting for the 1-Fleet Alliance, taking our collaborative activities to a new level,” said Joe Fenech Conti, CEO of Loqus, one of the founding members of the group. “One of the primary benefits of the alliance is that it looks after the interests of the market in general, rather than the interests of individual suppliers. Despite the changing political landscape affecting Europe, cross-border trade will continue and technology will become increasingly uniform. At 1-Fleet Alliance we will drive innovation and standards in the telematics field for the benefit of fleet operators across Europe.”
Martin Port, managing director of UK 1-Fleet Alliance member BigChange, commented, “It was pertinent that the meeting at the Savoy was held in a room used by Winston Churchill, who championed a stronger union between European nations, with a vision he famously called ‘The United States of Europe’. Despite all the talk of Brexit, there was an overwhelming consensus that closer cooperation is the way forward, and that 1-Fleet Alliance should take a lead in the fast-growing telematics market.”
