24 Jun Bill Russo Delivers Keynote Speech at BMW Open Innovation Event

Shanghai, China, June 15, 2018

TOPIC

China’s Auto Industry in the Age of Disruption  – The Birth of the “Automobility” Business Model 

For global automakers and their suppliers, China represents the greatest opportunity for growth in the 21st century.   Over the coming decades, we believe that China will remain the key battleground for dominance of the global auto industry.  However, this battle will not be waged using the conventional automotive technologies which have been refined over the past century.  We believe several driving forces, which are particularly evident China, have the potential to disrupt the status quo of the automotive industry:
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• The unique context of China’s urban transportation challenge, the high penetration rate of mobile internet, combined with the rapid and aggressive introduction of alternative mobility and ownership concepts, are compressing the time needed to commercialize smart, connected car technology and related services.
• The automotive value chain is being disrupted by non-traditional players as they enter and compete to deliver mobility solutions.  Disruptive new entrants are utilizing big data to draw insights about customers’ mobility patterns in order to address their “pain points” and offer new solutions for their mobility needs.  Such mobility needs are increasingly being met through on-demand and shared services versus individual ownership.

It is the confluence of these forces, along with rapid innovation to address “pain points” associated with mobility in the China context, are positioning China as the catalyst to drive the transformation of the business model and technological underpinnings of the global auto industry.