José Fernandez (D’Ieteren): Marketing is pivotal when it comes to generating behavioural changes for customers.

What are the key sustainability challenges in your sector

Automotive is at a tipping point regarding sustainability: on the one hand, transport accounts for 21% of CO2 emissions in Belgium, with passengers’ transport alone being good for 12%. Transport is one of the top categories when it comes to climate impact. As a market leader and a societally involved company, D’Ieteren is ambitious regarding environmental change and setting goals for decarbonation. The good news is that we have a real leverage here with electrical vehicles: the sooner we electrify the car fleet in Belgium (5,8 million cars…) the sooner we will have a potential trajectory to correct emissions due to transport.  But decarbonation will also come through the shift to other mobility solutions like bikes, shared cars etc. and D’Ieteren is also leading on these.

What came out of your latest 'Polaris' study ?

Polaris is in the first place a yearly survey we conduct to understand customer behaviour and attitude regarding mobility as a whole, not only cars. What we notice are two major trends: the first one is that… cars are really here to stay still for a while. They will be electric, smaller, have a lower environmental impact, but individual transportation for Belgians is still relying in first place on cars. For many people in rural and peri-urban areas it is almost impossible to completely do without it. Bikes come second, with a massive surge of e-bikes in particular in Flanders, where 39% of the Flemish population has access to e-bikes. Public transport stagnates, mainly because, despite policies, infrastructure is saturated and public transport in cities is already well used. Next to that, we also see that the shift to electrification is generating new interesting patterns. For instance, 74% of solar panel owners are open to buying an EV as their next car, making a one-decarbonated grid cycle viable. We are investing in this area with the takeover of GoSolar and with the development of EDI (loading stations).

Last but not least, we see that car sharing, like our Poppy brand, keeps growing. The challenge there is reaching an economy of scale that allows the model to be viable longer term.

You are looking at fundamental changes in your business model, from selling cars to mobility, what is the role of marketing in this ?

Marketing is pivotal when it comes to generating behavioural changes for customers. The way we are investing and developing electrical vehicles (EVs) in our different brands is a success. Did you know D’Ieteren is the #1 seller of EV in Belgium? Well ahead of Tesla. We do this with a large range of available models in all our brands, from the very compact Microlino to the small ID3 till the sporty Porsche Taycan. Volkswagen also announced a smaller, more affordable ID2 model that will make, by 2025, small  EV’s accessible to a wider audience.

Moreover marketing plays a role not only in explaining our products or services but also in helping people to understand how our mobility ecosystems work: for companies we do support the consulting of personnel data to help companies build the appropriate ‘mobility package’ that may include EVs, leased bikes, transport allowance… We do also support companies in making sure their mobility data is correctly stored and exchanged with e.g. social secretary offices.

What is your role as a marketer in addressing these challenges, and can you give us some concrete examples of what you did already ?

As a marketer, my role goes further than just the communication aspects. How for instance we connect data from different sources, to then implement through our digital ecosystem the necessary tools and processes is part of the job. As well as helping our business lines to ‘integrate’ views and strategies together to build joined offering proposals (think about a car offering also a bike voucher to incentivize a purchase at our new Lucien bike retail chain…).

Also, the way we do position D’Ieteren as a mobility provider in a sustainable and inclusive way is also key to us. As an example we are supporting the new Trends Impact Awards to help companies and startups innovating in the field of mobility.

Can you give us an inspiring example of an other actor in the sector

No…there is no other comparable actor with D’Ieteren in Belgium ! (laughs…).

I think that despite the clear threat for our European industry, Chinese brands arriving in Europe have a fresh approach towards technology that is, at times, impressive.

Some brands onboard tech features that are going far beyond what we know today, even Tesla…

Now, don’t take me wrong : opening our borders to cheap Chinese cars will present, from a macro economical and societal point of view, important drawbacks… So let’s buy European cars instead!

What remains to be solved and what are your plans

A lot… I was talking earlier about the interconnection of data ecosystems. This remains a major challenge, in particular because the way we could technically access onboard data is uneasy. Remember that we do not produce the cars we are selling in the market, we are an importer and a retailer in the first place.

The second challenge is to avoid the pitfalls regarding the negativity around cars. We do believe mobility is paired with wellness and wellbeing. The more people move, the better they learn, connect, sympathize and produce value for society. This challenge is a long term one.

What tips would you give fellow marketers

Keep marketing high on the C-suite agenda, despite head-winds. Make sure you also attract and retain the right talent when it comes to data, technology and content.

Last but not least, ‘mens sana in corpore sano’ : take time for your personal balance between work and private life.

Is there an inspiring piece of content (book, webinar, video, article) you would recommend 

Regarding the impact of sustainability, I do recommend reading Bill Gates ‘how to avoid a climate crisis’. It should act as a positive high opener for everyone.

I do also recommend Wim Vermeulen’s speak up now, which is an excellent advocacy reading for corporate executives (Wim and José, alongside with Cédric Cauderlier are nominees for ‘Marketing Leader of the Year’, co-organised by BAM – NDLR)

And as far as I am concerned, I am now finishing the book from Kate Rasworth “Doughnut Economics”. A must read for everyone willing to address the end of this century in an appropriate context.