June 2018 Summer Meeting

Disruptive change - real or imagined?

The meeting started with a choice of two parallel workshops sessions where we collectively tackled the future role of the national importer organisation and shifting relationships in the aftermarket.  We then heard a keynote guest presentation from Max Warburton, Head of Global Automotive Research at Bernstein, who provided an analyst’s view on what the future holds for the industry.  The agenda for day two offered a mixture of presentation and debate around the themes of ‘disruptive change’ and ‘the end of car ownership’, drawing on the range of sales and aftersales-related research we had underway to look at customer attitudes to ‘ownership’ versus ‘usage’, subscription models and finance innovation, the development of 3rd party platforms and OEM effectiveness in used cars, plus a look into the future of the crash repair market.  We also welcomed Felix Leuschner, Founder and CEO of Drover, a London-based car subscription service, who gave a unique perspective on this emerging area.

The topics covered at the meeting were:

• The role of the national importer

• Aftermarket relationships

• Guest speaker, Max Warburton, Bernstein

• Disruptive change revisited

• Subscription models

• Customer attitudes to ownership

• Guest Speaker, Felix Leuschner, Drover

• OEMs and used cars

• Crash repair