Deputy President Mobility Brian Gibbons yesterday said that the federation’s Mobility arm has begun a “journey of growth” over the past 12 months that will provide “a springboard for real value in the years to come”.

Speaking following yesterday’s meeting of the World Council for Automobile Mobility and Tourism he said: “I’m in no doubt that over the last year Mobility has started a journey of growth and has gained a level of input at a pace that shows real signs of development.

“The strategies we have adopted will benefit Mobility and help in the establishment of two commissions – policy and services – that today presented their work plans for the next few years,” he added. “In particular, the council was unanimously behind the FIA having a strong role in securing Rights to Repair in terms of access to vehicle data, to enable clubs’ mobility assistance to continue to support club members’ needs.”

Gibbons also pointed to work undertaken on Statutes Review, particularly in relation to new definitions for Mobility clubs, which he said would “flow into the regions over the next four months”.

“This is a broad service definition that will in future require clubs to have activities in three key areas: mobility assistance, tourism which could include campaign work, and an advocacy role,” he said. “The working group will continue its work and focus on that subject.”

The Deputy President continued by saying that another key recommendation concerned the roles of the African Council of Tourism and Automobile Clubs (ACTA) and the Arab Council of Touring and Automobile Clubs (ACTAC) within the FIA.

“It is about enabling those clubs to continue working as part of Region I   to have the right, at a future date, to become regions in their own right. In the meantime, the decision is now that the chairmen of ACTA and ACTAC will become automatic members of the World Council for Automobile Mobility and tourism as Vice Presidents with effect from the 2013 General Assembly.”

Finally, he confirmed the council’s recommendations that Ross Heron of the Australian Automobile Association replace Ray Grigg (AAA) on the World Council and that T K Malhotra of the Federation of Automobile Clubs of India replace Gus Lagman of the Automobile Association Philippines. Other appointments approved were the co-opting of Takayoshi Yashiro (Japan Automobile Federation) in place of Setsuo Tanaka, who has retired from JAF.