Following the keynote speech that opened Thursday’s proceedings, François Castelein presented a number of findings of the Vision 2030 report in the context of what Clubs should be considering in short, medium and long terms.

While the findings of the report show that there are many areas of development that can be addressed, he was keen to point out the strength and assets Clubs must keep in mind, stating, “Clubs are unique and they are strong. They have key assets that must be leveraged – they have a powerful relationship with their members which is trusted and valued.”

Offering step by step advice for Clubs moving forward, the presentation touched on the need to combine assets with third parties, think more internationally about needs of members and ultimately move the focus of the membership from the automobile to connected mobility. Stefano Sarti, CEO of ARC then opened the panel discussion, talking about the significance of balancing B2B and B2C, adding, “New channels of business require more data exchange, more services and more innovations – we are just at the beginning of our path.”

Oliver Schmerold was keen to highlight the fact that Clubs are in many ways well positioned to take advantage of coming trends. “The developments we are seeing are close to the classic model of the Club sharing as it appears now is close to the ideals of our foundation, we should not fear it, we should take advantage of it.”

A floor discussion was then opened, with topics ranging from issues of taxation in cases of peer-to-peer member sharing, the challenges of attracting new members and how best to take advantage of the brands that have been established through the hard work of Clubs over the last century.

Colin Jordan, former CEO of RACV, closed proceedings by bringing up the long road already travelled in mobility by FIA Clubs, reminding everyone however that there will always be room for improvement.