A full and attentive audience, the one that attended this morning the first edition of Fleet&Business Day of Quattroruote. And it could not be otherwise, given the professionalism of those present, more than 130 fleet managers, and the topicality of the issues covered, relating to the complex moment of transition that the automotive world is experiencing. In fact, the first edition of the event was not a subject of discussion, since, as the director of Quattroruote, Gian Luca Pellegrini, pointed out at the beginning of the meeting, Quattroruote had already organized a congress on the theme of company cars in April 2004, aware of the importance of the sector and the importance it would have acquired on the Italian market. At the Nhow Hotel in Milan, therefore, all aspects destined to guide the choices of fleet managers and the definition of car policies over the next few years were dealt with at 360, from the validity of the Adas, tested by the Quattroruote test centre, to the different types of fuel, up to the most recent proposals of the manufacturers.
The importance of the Adas.
Today, more and more models offer automatic driver assistance systems and fleet managers, attentive to the safety of the drivers, take them into account when defining the characteristics of the cars to be requested from the hirers. Not all Adas, however, are the same and work correctly: it was, therefore, essential that Quattroruote equipped itself with suitable tools to judge their effectiveness. Cristiano remains, technical office engineer from Asc, the company of our publishing house that manages the Vairano test facility, spoke about the methods of these tests at Fleet&Business Day. From October 2018 to date, explained Resta, Quattroruote has tested with its own systems about one hundred models equipped with different Adas, developing twelve protocols that allow you to make more in-depth assessments than is done by Euro NCAP thanks to the introduction of variables derived from real life, such as the presence of other cars parked or the addition of a backpack to the mannequin of the child crossing the road. In general, the systems have proved to be effective in detecting moving obstacles, but less brilliant in situations such as turning, the presence of cyclists, the collision with a stationary obstacle offset by 25%. In addition to these aspects, fleet managers will have to consider the need to provide adequate training for drivers and periodic maintenance, verification, and calibration of the Adas, which is essential to ensure their effectiveness over time.
The right fleet.
Mauro Serena, a partner of GR Advisory, specialized in the automotive sector and the definition of the fleets, was involved in the consultancy for the companies in his speech. The world of cars is outlining precise trends, shared by experts: over the next thirty years, the cars will be ecological, connected, autonomous (even if at different levels) and shared. Starting from these assumptions, however, each company profile has and will increasingly need a mix of different solutions to meet its mobility needs most properly. This is why it is essential for fleet managers to draw up a precise picture, based on data, of their needs, also relying on external consultants, to be able to define a car policy that is truly consistent with the company's activities and with the essential need to control costs.
To each its own. Food, we mean: because one of the puzzles for fleet managers is precisely the choice of the type of motorization, which has now grown out of all proportion. To clarify the merits and defects of each of the possible solutions was the engineer Roberto Boni, responsible for the technical editing of Quattroruote, who reviewed the gasoline engines, those powered by diesel, those powered by LPG and natural gas, the various types of hybrid (from mild to full up to plug-in), ending with the electric cars as well. A wide and variegated panorama, which will certainly see, in the next years, different options coexist, even if with a general tendency towards the electrification of the propulsion systems.