3 questions for Thomas Mercier, VP of Sales & Business Development at Echoes.
On Tuesday, June 11, 2024, the Mobility Club by Via ID – Mobivia held an event in Paris during which several key players in the vehicle data sector shared their vision for the future of the industry. Among them was Thomas Mercier, VP of Sales & Business Development at Echoes, who discussed value creation through data and his company’s approach in this area. A look back at these topics in three questions.
How does Echoes stand out in the highly competitive automotive data market?
According to KPMG estimates, the global automotive data market is worth 85 billion euros. Its extremely rapid growth is expected to accelerate, particularly driven by the electric vehicle market.
Thomas Mercier: Unlike most players in the market, our technical model is based on data natively transmitted in real time from vehicles to the manufacturer, collected and harmonized by Echoes before being displayed in the CarFleet or CarLocate interface. No more devices to install, uninstall, and maintain; goodbye to vehicle downtime; and no more risk of losing the manufacturer’s warranty!
Our approach consists of listening to customers and prospects, understanding their needs and use cases, and responding to them as effectively as possible by collecting the necessary data.
Thomas Mercier — VP of Sales & Business Development, Echoes
What sets Echoes apart is also this pragmatic stance, which rejects the idea of developing products before trying to force them onto the market. This is the advantage of our “zero-device” philosophy: rather than making heavy investments in the design and manufacturing of connected devices, we prioritize research and development focused on the intelligent use of OEM data, with agility and short turnaround times in mind. This approach has enabled us to become a recognized leader and a long-term partner to major players in the rental industry (short- and long-term leasing).
How can vehicle-generated data create value?
Thomas Mercier: At this stage, market needs are less about creating value and more about addressing pain points: reducing operating costs, mitigating risks, and preventing losses. To that end, Echoes offers a 360° solution to combat theft and misappropriation, with a commitment to securing and recovering vehicles within 48 hours. This offering is increasingly popular among rental companies, which often have little or no coverage against fraud.
Similarly, the CarFleet tool makes it much easier for fleet managers or CFOs to comply with certain CSRD requirements, particularly CO2 emissions reporting: with a single click, the fleet’s actual consumption and emissions are accessible. This saves teams both time and money. Better yet, information related to maintenance and mechanical breakdowns makes it possible to take immediate action when an anomaly is detected — preventing the breakdown from worsening — and to verify that maintenance schedules are being followed. No more missed maintenance appointments or the risk of losing the manufacturer’s warranty.
Beyond savings and risk management, does data open up value-creation opportunities?
Thomas Mercier: Yes, but that will come later. New services and products aimed at individual and business customers will emerge, based on the analysis of vehicle data. Echoes is already a pioneer with CarFid, a service designed for players in the automotive distribution sector. By leveraging data and with customer consent, it allows operators to contact customers whenever a vehicle-related event occurs: reaching a mileage milestone, a maintenance alert, an accident, etc. These events are detected by the vehicle’s sensors and transmitted in real time to Echoes, which displays them in CarFid. Each of them represents an opportunity to engage with the customer and offer them a personalized appointment at the dealership — maintenance, repairs, a new vehicle offer…
As the vehicle fleet becomes increasingly electrified, the depth of data collected is set to increase, as are the new requirements associated with electric propulsion and its constraints. The range of services offered by Echoes is therefore set to expand, generating ever-greater value for professionals. And all of this without any vehicle downtime or hardware replacement: all future improvements will be delivered via updates to Echoes’ tools.
Want to see the “zero-device” approach applied to your fleet? See CarFleet and CarLocate on your own use cases.
