PAUL HOLLICK has been elected chairman of the influential Institute of Car Fleet Management (ICFM) during its annual national members’ conference.
More than 170 members and guests attended the 22nd national conference run by the institute which is the UK’s only independent not-for-profit organisation dedicated to furthering the education, recognising the achievements and advancing the profession of car fleet management.
This year’s conference focused on ‘Autonomous vehicles – their future impact on legislation and fleet policy’ was held at the Henry Ford College, Loughborough.
Keynote speaker was Hugh Dickerson senior industry head automotive at Google, providing insight into the rapid developments in technology and social media and their application in the retail and automotive sector plus an overview of Google’s autonomous vehicle testing programme, which has seen its test cars cover over 700,000 accident-free miles.
He reminded the audience that, in terms of technology, “today is the slowest day for the rest of our lives.”
Guest speaker was racing driver and TV personality, Tiff Needell, who also presented the training awards to ICFM members.
Hollick said: “This year’s conference was the best yet and the autonomous vehicles theme proved thought-provoking for the delegates who attended.
“In the past year, training has increased by around 30% and our thanks went to our outgoing chairman Roddy Graham who has significantly helped elevate our profile over the past eight years. As always, the ICFM definitely delivered on its motto of raising the fleet standard.”
The sponsors’ welcome saw Phil Hollins, fleet director, Ford of Britain provide an informative insight into recent and forthcoming new car launches as well as technological developments including City Stop and Perpendicular Parking while Andrew Cope, executive chairman of FMG got delegates in the mood for the panel discussion by sharing his thoughts on the digital revolution.
An ‘in-dialogue’ session heard many insightful comments made by the expert panel including:
“How we drive cars in the next 20 years will change more than the way we have done in the past 80 years.” – Dr Nick Reed DPhil (Oxon) CPsychol principal human factors researcher, TRL Senior Academy Fellow.
“Consumer led technologies is the key enabler.” – Richard Brown, advanced project group manager Ford.
“Technology is changing so fast. The readiness to accept new technology will increase with greater usage and availability.” – Bob Holbrey, group IT director, FMG.
“Technology starts in the high end product. The more experience we have in it, the more trust we have. Most of the autonomous vehicle technology is here now; the challenge is to get it in more cars.” – Gerry Keaney, chief executive, BVRLA.
“The new challenge for big data is rationalising the complexity of packages, which is having an impact on residual values. We refer to the analogy of spaceships colliding with dinosaurs when talking about new and used car buyers.” – Craig Purvey, general manager corporate development, British Car Auctions.
“A greater number of people do not require ownership, making solutions accessible for different groups.” – Adrian Bewley, head of business rental UK, Enterprise Rent-A-Car.
