- This event is the first independent forum on the new megatrends of the car industry and the impact they have on large urban communities.
- The inaugural event took place in Bucharest, Romania – Europe ‘s sixth largest city – in close cooperation with Bucharest City Hall.
The European AUTOBEST Summit took place in Bucharest on 13 June 2018 at the Romanian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Alexandru Ion Cuza amphitheatre. This event, in partnership with Bucharest City Hall, was supported by all the departments involved in the city traffic, environment, parking and smart city solutions.
The headline was ‘AUTONOMOUS DRIVING. IDEAL SOLUTION? HOW? WHEN? – Smart solutions for Bucharest City.’ The main aim of the summit was to bring together key specialists involved in the areas of autonomous driving, connected technologies and green propulsion. We looked inside the automotive industry to explore both ideas with/without steering wheel and pedals, but also outside auto industry to startups and other companies involved in these megatrends, from cybersecurity to the legal issues arising from these profound transformations.
All specialists who were present at the SUMMIT dealt directly with Bucharest City Hall executives, seeking to understand what is possible today and what we can expect in the near future. It was AUTOBEST’s objective to make the executives of the City Hall, the media representatives and the general public aware of the solutions and opportunities, but also about the limitations of these technologies and trends.
Important personalities delivered remarkable speeches and presentations. Among these were Mr Calin Popescu Tariceanu, President of Romanian Senate and connaisseur of the automotive industry, Mr Sorin Chirita, Bucharest City Manager and Mr Mihai Daraban, President of the Romanian Chamber of Industry and Commerce. The Key Speaker of the Summit was Dr Wolfgang Epple, Former Chief Technology Officer at Jaguar Land Rover – well known in the European media as ‘Dr Q’, like the famous character from James Bond movies. With a long career in the R&D, serving in several top positions at BMW and JLR, Dr. Epple is one of the most prominent technical experts of the car industry and was able to deliver a meaningful perspective of these new megatrends and how they can influence big cities in finding the best solutions.
Another first was the participation of Mr Ernest Virgil Popovici, Senior Partner at Popovici Nitu Stoica & Asociatii Law Office with a keynote on the complex legal issues coming from autonomous driving. Mr Jean Philippe Salar, Design Director at Renault, delivered a remarkable presentation on his company perspective on autonomous driving with the example of EZ-GO concept that debuted at this year’s Geneva Motor Show. Mr Atilla Szabo, CEO Ford Romania NSC, also participated with valuable comments from the Ford Motor Company’s perspective on the future of city communities.
Other key speakers came from telecom company TELEKOM, insurance company Groupama, fast charging stations and fleet management company Axionet, to car price evaluation Eurotax. Each spoke of the impact of these technologies on every aspect of the various fields they represented at the SUMMIT.
No less than 17 leading journalists including motoring media from Germany, Italy, Switzerland, Netherlands, Finland, Russia, Turkey, Czech Republic, Croatia, Greece, Ukraine, Hungary, Serbia, Slovakia, Bulgaria, Republic of Macedonia and Malta, actively participated to the Summit. Some of them, very well-known in their own countries were the moderators of the Summit; Alessio Viola, Chief Road Test Editor Quatrorotte Italy, Robert Van Ginneken, Chief Editor Auto Mobiliteit Netherlands, Dragos Craiovan, Editorial Director AutoPro & 4×4 Crossover Lifestyle Magazine, Romania and Mladen Alvirovic, Editor in chief SAT Plus Serbia.
“This is a new initiative coming from our AUTOBEST organisation. The SUMMIT is not a coincidence, but a consequence of the ‘AUTOBEST Credo’, a programmatic document released in Lisbon, Portugal, more than a year ago. Making a direct contact between the specialists in all these megatrends and the responsible managers in the City Hall is the best chance of finding real solutions and to come to a reality beyond a scientific approach. By the end of the SUMMIT, we consider our mission accomplished seeing that all the people involved going away not only with a much clearer perspective of the future but also with a ‘to do’ list of actions,” stated Dan Vardie, AUTOBEST Founder & Chairman and the initiator of the SUMMIT.
The AUTOBEST SUMMIT series comprises of one SUMMIT every year in a different European megacity. For the next event, the AUTOBEST organisation is currently exploring numerous capital cities including Istanbul, Amsterdam, and Paris. The final announcement will come at a later date.
