Beyond the Car - a FISITA podcast
'Beyond the Car' is a FISITA podcast about the technology and business of getting around.
Hosted by FISITA CTO Martin Kahl, 'Beyond the Car ' explores cutting-edge developments in the evolution of mobility.
Each episode will feature thoughtful conversations with leading engineers and engineering leaders, and respected industry experts involved in the business and technology of mobility.
In 'Beyond the Car', we'll feature guests from across the car industry - vehicle manufacturers, suppliers, and other stakeholders - but we'll also be talking to those developing the technology that supports the commercial vehicle industry, motorsport, supply chain and logistics, new mobility providers, those involved in parking, and public transport, and anyone else associated with the movement of people and goods.
Beyond the Car - a FISITA podcast
Embracing the complexities of mobility - feat. FISITA President and FISITA CEO
Use Left/Right to seek, Home/End to jump to start or end. Hold shift to jump forward or backward.
In this episode, we talk to FISITA President ChangHwan Kim, who leads the FISITA executive board, and Chris Mason, Chief Executive of FISITA, the global alliance of automotive engineers.
Over two separate interviews, ChangHwan and Chris discuss the latest developments at FISITA, thoughts on some of the major issues facing the global automotive industry, and their ambitions for the 2026 FISITA World Mobility Summit, which takes place in November in Seoul, Korea.
Summit is FISITA's biennial leadership event which this year runs under the title, "Embracing the complexities of mobility". In mobility, the end goal is rarely achieved through one technology or another. The answer, as former General Motors RD Vice President Larry Burns famously emphasized, lies in "the power of and" - hence the need to embrace the complexities of mobility.
To learn more about the FISITA Summit, check out fisita.com/summit
About the guests
ChangHwan Kim is Executive Vice President at Hyundai Motor Company, where he heads up the Electrification Energy Solutions Tech Unit covering Battery and Hydrogen Fuel Cell Development.
Connect with ChangHwan on LinkedIn
Chris Mason is Chief Executive, FISITA.
Connect with Chris on LinkedIn
Follow FISITA's 'Beyond the Car' podcast on LinkedIn
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Podcast website: Beyond the Car Podcast - FISITA
You can listen to FISITA's 'Beyond the Car' podcast wherever you get your podcasts.
For more information about FISITA, head to FISITA.com - and to learn more about the 'Beyond the Car' podcast, you can contact us at info@fisita.com.
Thank you to Martyn Strong for production.
In mobility, the end goal is rarely achieved through one technology or another. The answer, as former General Motors RD Vice President Larry Burns famously emphasized, lies in the power of and. I'm Martin Kahl of FISITA, and I'm delighted to welcome you to another episode of FISITA's Beyond the Car
Intro
Martin Kahlpodcast.
Martin KahlFISITA exists to bring together the engineers developing the technology of mobility through expert working groups, webinars, reports, and white papers. We do it through this very podcast, even, and of course we do it through our global conferences, exhibitions, and events. The big event for FISITA in 2026 is the FISITA Summit, which takes place in November in Seoul, Korea, thanks to the fantastic support of Hyundai. Summit is our biennial leadership event, which this year runs under the title "Embracing the complexities of mobility", a title that evolved out of the 2024 summit hosted in Michigan by General Motors, which ran under the title "To EV or not to EV," the answer to which was a resounding yes and yes. That highlighted the importance of embracing different solutions to achieve an outcome, and the theme for the 2026 FISITA Summit more or less wrote itself. We have a great agenda this year and a C-suite heavy speaker line-up of high-ranking industry executives for the event. And if you'd like to learn more about the FISITA Summit, check out the events page on the F ISITA website, Fisita.com. In this episode, we talk to ChangHwan Kim, the president of FISITA, who leads the executive board. As you'll know if you listen to the first ever episode of Beyond the Car, ChangHwan is executive vice president at Hyundai Motor Company, where he heads up the Electrification Energy Solutions Tech Unit covering battery and hydrogen fuel cell development. And we talk to Chris Mason, FISITA's chief executive. In an episode made up of two separate conversations, we talk about some of the latest developments at FISITA, explore some of the key themes shaping the global automotive industry, including SDV, AI, and electrification. And we look ahead to our upcoming summit. But that's enough introduction. Here's my conversation with FISITA President ChangHwan
ChangHwan Kim, President, FISITA and EVP Hyundai Motor Company
Martin KahlKim.
Speaker 1Speaker 1
Welcome to FISITA's Beyond the Car podcast, ChangHwan. Or as you were our first guest alongside the then outgoing FISITA President Mike Anderson. Welcome back. And it's nice to welcome you back as our first returning guest as well, only appropriate as FISITA President.
ChangHwan KimHey Martin, thanks for having me the opportunity to uh to join this great podcast.
Martin KahlYeah. Well, uh you're well into your second year now of your FISITA presidency. What has surprised you the most about the role compared with what you expected when you took it on?
ChangHwan KimWell, what surprised me most is uh how much it's all centers on listening, facilitating dialogue, and building consensus across a truly diverse global community. So um I've been also deeply touched by the dedication of FISITA leadership team, including you. I'm truly delighted with the executive board we brought together and the strong leadership across each other. Each of our regional vice presidents working closely with the Chris Mason and you, Martin Kahl, and the whole entire team has taught me that President's role isn't about the directing the leading, but about supporting our team and the corporate board and bring a new idea and unlock the collecting energy of our global network.
Martin KahlI guess the role of president gives you a unique vantage point. What are some of the things that you're seeing or hearing from members? And obviously, we have corporate members and we have society members, and also maybe from the wider sector that you think deserves maybe more attention.
ChangHwan KimOne thing I keep hearing from members across the very different regions is that the ground keeps moving under the under them. I mean, policy, tariffs, and diversity of customers and infrastructure and cost competitiveness tied to how mature a member's local supply chain is, and all vary so widely by regions that no single technology or business model is converging the way public narratives suggest. So many members describe it as uh chasing a moving target.
Martin KahlRight.
ChangHwan KimAnd the other thing is how much the industry center of gravity is shifting from mechanical engineering to software and AI, autonomous driving, and software-defined vehicles are no longer future concepts. I mean, they are reshaping how our members organize R&Ds, how they hire, and even how they define what a car is. And FISITA's members need to lead the conversation and not just react to it.
Martin KahlYeah, I mean, you mentioned two key things there software-defined vehicle and AI. And uh obviously we're moving from an industry that's been heavily hardware-based to one that's really software-centric now. And and uh somebody said to me the other day, if you're only now talking about the software-defined vehicle, you're already too late.
ChangHwan KimExactly, exactly. That really kind of defines the competitiveness of the vehicle. And cost-wise, uh now you know, Chinese supply chains are are so so aggressive. And I think that a lot of the legacy OEMs will tap into the their supply chain to really become uh as competitive as the Chinese OEMs uh before they really kind of dominate the whole the global uh auto industry. So, but the software side, it is very important to have the each OEMs have their own uh software strategy, how they can really um satisfy our customers in different regions.
Martin KahlYeah, and you talk about different regions, and obviously you work at a global vehicle manufacturer. Has being president changed your perspective on FISITA as a global association, which I guess is a unique association, right, in the way it operates and its membership. Your perspective on the association or its membership in any way, and maybe give some examples of how what's become very clear to me is that I have to constantly think about F ISITA's value proposition.
ChangHwan KimUh before becoming president, I may take it for granted, but now I'm constantly asking what real value are we delivering to our members? I mean, why should they invest their time and resources in F ISITA? Uh, in the time of economic and technical uncertainty like we are facing now, having a neutral, member-led community where leaders can have open, honest peer conversations is more valuable than ever. And that's precisely why we have to stay in the innovative, remain uh in relevant and stay relentless focus, understanding what our members actually need and expect from FISITA. And exactly this is kind of uh, as I mentioned, you know, when we talk about global, I mean, they're all members in FISITA really have a business uh model in different regions, and FISITA can become uh truly a good their intelligent sources for being addressing, you know, other global diverse customers. Uh, what we need to focus on different regions and what's going on in different regions, and FISITA really connect all those information from different regions: European, Chinese, um, India, and North America and Asia, Korea, Japan. And so those kind of uh network and informations uh will definitely be unique value propositions for FISITA's community.
Martin KahlYou talk to a lot of people in your role uh and also in your role as uh FISITA president. Can you give us a flavour of some of the conversations that you've had during the presidency that might have made you think differently about how a global membership association such as FISITA is challenged or some of the opportunities maybe that are even facing it?
ChangHwan KimWell, first of all, I mean talking with our regional VPs really drove home that a one-size-fits-all approach simply doesn't work for global mobility. I mean, every region has its own pace, its own regulations, and its own infrastructure. So our governance has to be genuinely regional and responsive. At the same time, we have to admit that old model of relying solely on in-person events isn't enough anymore. That really convinced me that we need a blended engagement model, keeping our community engaged year-round through digital platforms and activities like FISITA Connect and technology expert groups, while making sure our in-person flags events like our World Mobility Congress and the Summit deliver maximum values. And especially for under this kind of uh you know, uncertain uh environment during the transition to electrifications, that the pace and speed of the uh infrastructure and policies are not much generalized or standardized. So a lot of uh diversity, a lot of uh some differences in terms of electrification level uh is kind of a biggest challenge. And this all the programs are are focusing on how we can really respond to this kind of uh uh environment. And that's kind of how I uh feel.
Martin KahlYeah, so I said at the top that you're now in the second year of your presidency. Is there anything you particularly want to achieve influence or see happen during that second year?
ChangHwan KimWell, in my second year, my main focus uh would be the strengthening FISITA's value proposition and driving a real visible members' engagement uh with a tangible benefit for our members. And given the membership pressures we face, we have to prove our relevance every single day. And uh first, we must fully empower our executive board and regional vice president to ensure strong regional representation and deliver new era committee outcomes that directly support our corporate board and the FISITA. And second, I think um we are focused on building long-term sustainability for our flagship events, continuing to develop the Congress in Barcelona, following its success in 2025, and evolving the World Mobility Summit, which is about a month away, uh, as our premier technical leadership forum.
Martin KahlYeah, well, that summit, as you said, is coming up. Uh, tell us a little bit about your experience of previous FISITA Summits, first of all, and then we can talk about your plans for 2026.
ChangHwan KimWell, well, the uh the summit that we had uh uh last time uh at General Motors was really impressive and really kind of uh made a new standard. Uh how the FISITA members can you know learn and uh you know uh achieve and get uh from the different views in uh different members in different regions. So what makes the FISITA Summit uh so special is its exclusivity and the genuine and candid atmosphere is far away from the commercial noise of massive trade shows and conferences. Uh it brings together C-suite executives and technical senior leaders as uh true peers. And I look back at the um, I mean, again, I if if I kind of give a little bit of uh descriptions and uh my feeling uh and uh at the Summit in Warren, Michigan, uh 2024. And I wanted to thank Mike and his team for setting the bar so high. What made that gathering so memorable was the willingness of senior leaders to set aside corporate talking points and engage in honest peer-level discussions. That kind of trusted dialogue is what makes the summit a must-attend event.
Martin KahlSo we're bringing the F ISITA Summit to the outskirts of Seoul in uh November 2026, uh, at the time of recording that, as you said, about a month away. What are your ambitions for that event?
ChangHwan KimYeah, to be exact it's a Seoul metropolitan area, which is uh about 50 kilometers south of Seoul, uh, which is very close to the Hyundai heart of engineering, uh we call the Namyang R&D. Taking on the responsibility of hosting the Summit 2026 this November is uh tremendous honor and great responsibility uh for Hyundai uh and for the Korean community also. Uh the bar was set very high in Warren, Michigan, as I mentioned. I know uh Matthias will raise it even even further in 2028.
Martin KahlThat's Matthias Klauda, our President-elect from Bosch.
ChangHwan KimUh I'm very excited to welcome the global mobility leadership to Korea. And this year's theme is "Embracing the complexities of mobility". And my ambition is that the summit will be a real-defining moment where global leaders establish practical frameworks for how multiple technology pathways and regional solutions and challenges can uh successfully work together. And this time, um, as you know, and as being published, uh new uh Chinese OEMs are joining uh with their CTOs and existing the uh the strong, the Asian order maker uh Toyota and Hyundai, um their CTOs are joining. So uh it's gonna be very well blended uh discussions for C-suite the OEMs uh panel discussion. So I'm very looking forward to it.
Martin KahlObviously, you and I have uh talked at length about some of the topics that are in that agenda. I'm interested to know what the topics that you hope will create discussion or generate debate or even maybe disagreement. Obviously, we we've got things like uh software-defined vehicle, AI, automated driving, electrification in the agenda. Um, what do you expect to hear from attendees and from the speakers?
ChangHwan KimI think uh what's really important is that we create an atmosphere where leaders can be honest about what's actually keeping them up at night right now. The mobility industry is going through such a radical and rapid transformation, as I mentioned, mentioned previously. Every organization is facing incredibly complex decisions, whether it's managing technology investments, navigating regional divergence, uh dealing with the supply chain volatility, or figuring out how to retain and develop talent in this new landscape. I really hope the networking time becomes a place where senior leaders can just openly share their real concerns and challenges and what their um strategies they would like to suggest uh through this um the international community. Uh of course, it's a pretty competitive uh uh you know area focus, but I think this can give them a great um ideas how they can uh solve their problems.
Martin KahlLet's let's say we're six months down the line or even eight months or a year. What when you look back, would a successful summit have looked like for you?
ChangHwan KimWell, for me, uh success means three tangible outcomes. Uh first, I want leaders to walk away from real strategic clarity, understanding that complexity isn't something we need to fight or eliminate, but something we can navigate together through genuine collaboration. And second, I hope we see meaningful pre-competitive partnership take root between OEMs, suppliers, and tech companies that actually carry on long after everyone leaves Korea. And third, I want to build a strong momentum for visitors' own future, proving that we are the most relevant, most trusted place where the global mobility community comes together to advance safe, sustainable, and accessible mobility for everyone. So uh this kind of uh you know unique environment and opportunity that FISITA provides uh definitely will um deliver the message and try to convince our members that uh they are real, we are rear, and not just kind of a conceptual and just kind of a planning or just kind of uh thing. So we we really try to deliver the tangible benefit of our members, and this there are a huge opportunity to make the synergistic um you know uh outcome from the members among the members and the new blood and new DNA from the different industries such as software and AI uh in the line. And this kind of can bring uh a real benefits uh for F ISITA's members in the futures.
Martin KahlYeah, and we had a um we had some fun and also some serious conversations around the title of the event, uh "Embracing the complexities of mobility". But that obviously stemmed from some of the conversations that we had at the 2024 event. Uh, the title of that one was "To EV or not to EV?" and the answer was a resounding "yes and yes". And that that led us to this title now, "Embracing the Complexities of Mobility", because it's there's no binary solution, right? And I'm I'm hoping that because there's no binary solution, we also get some great debate and discussion.
ChangHwan KimAnd uh especially during the after the COVID, I mean, the whole industry has shifted very differently and completely new era. And 2024 was the first summit that we had after the COVID. Uh, before we we had a summit, we kind of were struggling to think about or imagine how the outcome would be, and you know, how can summit provide re-engaging our members? But outcome was fabulous. I mean, we all learned, we kind of felt that okay, yes, we wanted this kind of uh um the opportunity and place and venue and um kind of gathering opportunities so that we can share and and bring the honest um you know the uh challenges that we are struggling with. And really, that really gives us um uh talk uh and the uh the finding some solutions. And that's why I think that I'm more uh excited about this year's um summit. That after that this very successful event, I think we have a very nice um you know, member, uh nice kind of uh presenters uh in our program, and a lot of attendants uh are are very looking forward to having um a step you know uh promoted uh the event. So I think I'm I'm very excited about this opportunity.
Martin KahlYeah, likewise. Well, I look forward to joining you in Korea to deliver that event. In the meantime, ChangHwan Kim, thank you for being again a guest on FISITA's Beyond the Car podcast.
ChangHwan KimThank you for again this opportunity. It's been an honor to kind of always participate in this type of event as a president and also uh as a member of the FISITA.
Chris Mason, FISITA CEO
Martin KahlIf you want to hear more about ChangHwan's path to the role of executive vice president at Hyundai, I highly recommend checking out the first episode of this podcast, which we recorded last year as he assumed the role of F ISITA President. So from FISITA President to FISITA CEO, here's my conversation with Chris Mason, Chief Executive of FISITA.
Martin KahlOn Beyond the Car, we feature leading engineers and engineering leaders from the stakeholders shaping the future of mobility. We've had a host of high-ranking and C-suite executives on the show, but we've never had our own CEO on Beyond the Car until now. Chris Mason, CEO of Fisita. Welcome to the show.
Chris MasonHey Martin, thanks for having me. It feels like a right privilege at this point to be here with you.
Martin KahlObviously, uh there's plenty on your desk at any one time as CEO of FISITA. But we before we talk about that, just give us a sense of where FISITA is in its journey.
Chris MasonHey, well, Martin, you know, as you as you well know, uh you've been with us for some time and part of uh my network for for many years before that. I've been fortunate enough to lead FISITA now for 12 years, and uh, you know, we are really achieving now, I feel, you know, we're we're delivering the uh most successful period in our organization's 76-year history. Uh we're engaging those uh leading and delivering the uh the technology of mobility. So, you know, all the stuff that uh the industry and the commentators were talking about 10 years ago is now on the road, you know. That's FISITA's world, right? We we live amongst the people that are creating the future, and it's uh it's a wonderful journey, and uh it's a real privilege to be leading the organization at this time. You know, after 12 years, uh I'm not Sure, I thought I'd be saying 12 years, but after 12 years, looking forward to the next 12, right? It's uh it's a fabulous journey.
Martin KahlYeah. And uh obviously we have people working on all sorts of activities within the organization. You at the head of it have plenty of stuff going across your desk and coming into your email at any one time. Just give us a sense of some of the big ticket things that you're working on at the moment.
Chris MasonWell, you know, the biggest ticket thing I work on is engaging with our member leaders, you know, engaging with with all the guys around the world that are leading the teams, uh, that are developing the technology of mobility and really taking a steer from them, you know, as to how we develop FISITA to continue to deliver against their expectations so that uh, you know, they stick with us and continue to use us as our wonderful industry has for uh all these decades. So right now we're preparing uh for 2027. We're we're just about to conclude year one of a five-year plan that we stood up uh uh in January this year. We're moving very, very well through that. Uh so looking forward to year two of the five-year plan of the new era for FISITA. There's lots of digital engagement going on now. You know, you know you're leading, uh you're leading the expert group engagement where you know we're getting so many people from around the world engaging on the priority topics of the technology mobility these days, that then enable us to lead those discussions into the in-person uh activities we run. And we're just preparing for our technical leadership summit, uh, which we're going to talk about uh today and and and start to prepare for our flagship event, the World Mobility Conference, uh in Barcelona uh next summer. So there's a lot of kind of immediacy in in the engagement we're delivering every day uh whilst planning that kind of mid and uh and long-term strategic development of our organization with uh with those that work with us and support us.
Martin KahlYeah, you mentioned Summit, and we will talk about that in a moment, but before Summit takes place, you're heading off to China for a new energy vehicle event.
Chris MasonYeah, right. So I'm out to China quite frequently these days, uh, and pleased to do so. It's been an incredible journey with you know the Chinese technical community developing, you know, some extraordinary uh mobility solutions, and and that continues. And uh this trip is to support my role in the uh recently established uh World New Energy Vehicle Development Organization. So, along with China SAE, uh we've supported the development of this organization, which now supports you know those brands and those leaders and those engineers in China to engage with the rest of the world as a you know participant in the uh the technical community. And you know, we've been building this for 12 years under my leadership at FISITA anyway, along with the leaders from from the rest of the world. And so uh WNEVDO, as we call it, is is is really looking at three objectives that have been progressed by the China industry leaders. That's to enhance understanding and mutual trust, so collaborate more and work more together, to deepen mutual learning and and and exchange, so knowledge share and thought leadership to help each other, you know, as as as we create advanced technologies and to jointly promote the high quality development of new energy vehicles, right? That's the that's the theme of the moment, and uh they're the three kind of focuses for WNEVDO. So I'm out there in Haikau in in Hainan province uh next week uh to to support uh the board meetings of the development organization, which also runs the World New Energy Vehicle Congress, which will take place uh next week as well.
Martin KahlAnd that Congress is the sort of physical manifestation, I guess, of the of the board bringing the uh the board members together.
Chris MasonYeah, that's it. Apart from I think it kind of, you know, in development terms, it came the other way around, right? The the Congress has been now, I think it's the eighth year uh the Congress has delivered now. Uh and uh it's a really great showing from you know international uh new energy vehicle uh technologies, not just the Chinese uh uh uh leaders, but uh there'll be there'll be brands and brand leaders from all around the world with us uh in Haikau City uh next week.
Martin KahlYeah, I mean I'm looking at the uh the panel that you'll be chairing out there, uh senior senior members from Volkswagen, Nissan, Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Chang'an, SAIC, China FAW, and Horizon Robotics.
Chris MasonIt's a wonderful, it's a wonderful lineup, and that's just a panel that I'm moderating. And the breadth of you know, the the engagement and uptake here from you know European traditional legacy brands to you know Horizon Robotics dealing with cutting-edge uh uh technology and of course China FAW, you know, one of the first first auto works, right? So you know, it really is a strong uh representative group. Uh and and for FISITA is proud to play its part, right? Because you know, for 76 years, our role has to has been to bring the world together to support engineers, create advanced technology. So if we think about you know the advancement of technology from different regions, different countries, different nations uh of the world over uh the last three quarters of a century, you know, FISITA's been there working with them all and helping everybody to collaborate and advance. And uh as I say, I keep coming back to the same point. It's an absolute privilege, and I'm delighted to uh have been recognized for FISITA to take my position as as vice chair on the World New Energy Vehicle Development Organization. And you know, we're gonna be putting some plans together for the next few years as as I'm over in Haikau this next week as well.
Martin KahlAnd of course, there's uh a few weeks later, we have the FISITA Summit, um, which we're going to talk about now because uh that's something that really is occupying a lot of time at FISITA in terms of making sure that we pull together this really exciting and valuable event. A few words about the summit for those listening who don't know about it. It's um it's an event that is included as a FISITA member benefit with two complimentary tickets for FISITA member leaders and a limited number of additional delegate passes available for purchase. The agenda, which we've worked really carefully on to make sure that it really reflects the sentiments and challenges and opportunities in the industry, features items such as the President's Forum, the supplier executive panel, we've got keynotes, regional deep dives, and the event wraps up with an independent expert panel. As well as the conference sessions, we're going to have an OEM facility tour, a networking dinner, and the president's dinner. But I thought, Chris, given your experience at FISITA and with the summit, it might be interesting to just get a few words from you about the history of the event and how it came to be and what it means for FISITA.
Chris MasonYeah, sure. I mean, the summit for me, if you think, you know, I joined FICITA in 2014. It was uh the summit was in its uh third year then, and it was kind of a classroom event, it was based in Germany, and you know, we've really expanded it over the last decade and uh and a bit to this highly regarded international uh leadership event on on the executive calendar. You know, we we we work with the highest quality people putting a program together that is supported, sponsored by the current serving president of Facita. And it's largely a by-invitational event, and we have a few exclusive tickets for the you know the the right kind of leaders to come join us. And and and that's why it's so highly regarded by the leaders because it's unique. It's not looking just to grow and grow and grow and invite more and more people, it's a really high-quality networking and thought leadership opportunity. Uh and year on year the value of it is evident and the feel-good factor of it around our membership is is is absolutely recognized. And you know, the contributions we have are extraordinary. I think just a small sample, you know, back in 2023, a summer opened by a speech by Carlos Tavares, then CEO at Stalantis. Uh, 2024, Mike Anderson, uh vice president of uh global battery and propulsion engineering at General Motors, designed and kicked off the event for us and hosted us at the GM Tech Center in Warren, Michigan under a wonderful title of "To EV or not to EV?". Uh, and uh we spent a couple of days working out whether that was in fact the question. And and and on to this year, uh our current serving president, the excellent Chang Hwan Kim, Executive Vice President of Hyundai has been putting a real shift in this last year, working with us all to create another high-quality program. He's doing a wonderful job in preparing to host us in in Seoul at Hyundai, uh, as we welcome the leaders of our uh our membership uh to explore the complexities of mobility. And I can't think of a more apt title at this time than that. So uh as you can tell, I've got a real soft spot for the summit. It's uh it's a real gem in in what we do at FISITA, and uh I feel the excitement just growing, you know, around us all and and our leadership with a few weeks to go. It's something to really look forward to.
Martin KahlSo you've talked about ChangHwan Kim hosting the event at Hyundai and uh talked about the topic. But what are you looking to achieve with the 2026 summit and what what sets it apart maybe from other automotive industry events?
Chris MasonUh what we're looking to achieve is what we always look to achieve. This these kind of two goals. One that we set for ourselves, deliver a high-quality event for uh uh our member uh leader peer group. And then the objective they set for us, which is don't create an event with people speaking about the things that we invented or already know, right? You've got to push those boundaries out and get really, really challenging to keep you know the technology leaders of the world engaged for a full-day thought leadership session. And you know, that's the bit that uh you have led for us, Martin, so so wonderfully in creating the agenda for the first day. But in and around it's so much good networking, so much engagement, and so much time to let that just breathe and settle. And you know, those two things are what uh our guests really look for. So that's what we look to achieve. And you know, that's what sets the summit apart from other events is you you simply can't buy this, you can't deliver this. This isn't a commercial kind of operation. We we keep it the size it is intentionally because that's what our members ask for us. Uh, and the only way you can you can participate in it is by being one of us, one of the community, one of the leaders in Facita membership. So then to the agenda, I think the things that you know we're looking forward to is focus on software-defined vehicle, on automated driving, on electrification, but really pushing those boundaries, not the stuff we already know. You know, we were talking about those things at summit, you know, maybe 10 years ago. Uh, and then obviously bringing in some challenge, some some expert opinion from outside. And again, you know, you you've done a great job in in helping us uh to populate you know the panels this year and the the experts that uh that join us come back again and again because they they like to be with us and they take great value in in participating in in this event.
Martin KahlYeah, and you mentioned the 2024 event "To EV or not to EV?", and I think that was uh the answer to that was yes and yes. And what what was interesting there was both the lineup of speakers and the lines of conversation were not just about pursuing one technology and everybody dictating that it should be so. There was genuine debate in the room and people not necessarily disagreeing with each other, but coming up with alternative views on how we can achieve the same targets. So, in that case, it was about the uh the quest for cleaner mobility. And that's what I think then fuelled the uh pardon the pun, the topic that we've got for 2026, "Embracing the complexities of mobility". We saw from "To EV or not to EV?" that there's not one single right answer, and that's the idea behind the Summit title for 2026.
Chris MasonThe summit proves itself in the test of time, right? We were we were sharing with the summit development uh team just recently uh a sketch um minute, you know, those artist sketches from from conferences that we took when uh Dan Nicholson from General Motors was president. So we were in Palo Alto uh in California, 2016, looking at the transition from automotive to to mobility. And it was still a crazy thought back then, right? It was just still, right, this conversation couldn't happen, you know, so much in a commercial kind of conference at that point. Uh, and we were sharing this this this artist uh minute and the conclusion of the day was uh what the biggest challenge and opportunity would be the commoditization of mobility. And here we are 10 years down the line, looking at the complexities of mobility, like two pieces of a 10-year jigsaw puzzle, right? That the fact that we can, from an evidence base, go back in time and say, this is what we're talking about then, this is how things have progressed, and so this is how we're talking now, and that will dovetail into something that happens 10 years down the line, is just a wonderful piece of of evidence to bring to to qualify and validate you know what we do and the success of this event and you know the the high quality of it.
Martin KahlSo that's Summit, but of course, Summit is uh in a few months' time, and there's plenty to come still. And 2027 is going to be a very busy year. We've got the Intelligence Safety Conference, we've got EuroBrake and WMC. Let's just talk a little bit about those because I think they also represent very different opportunities presented by FISITA for organizations to come together and discuss topics, either thought leadership or much more technical, such as the Intelligent Safety Conference and EuroBrake.
Chris MasonWell, as you know, we like to keep busy, so uh we're already uh full full tilt in preparation for 2027, as you say. And I'd like to take WMC, the World Mobility Conference, first, because it complements the summit that we've just been talking about. So if you think about the World Mobility Summit, it's a leadership event. WMC then takes place in the off-year on a biennial basis for both of them. And that's our flagship event now. You know, that's that's that's proven itself. Uh and is the event where we say the leaders' teams now take their turn, right? There's there's opportunity for everybody uh at FISITA. And so the trickle down of the thought leadership from summit to to to WMC is very, very relevant. And then now the contribution of the expert groups in FISITA that you're you're leading uh with with James Scoltock starts to inform the agenda of WMC, which means this whole thing strategically is is tied up. So if you're involved in FISITA, you know, the thing just keeps rolling forward into the next relevant activity. And it's all held together by this technology of mobility ecosystem that we have that that enables our members to identify the priority topics. So Summit and WMC, you know, really kind of close uh partners that allow leaders and their teams to consider the technology of mobility. And then we set up the intelligence safety conference with uh our our friends in China. I think it's eight years ago now we established with China SAE this event, and that came out of one of the very first expert groups we set up under my leadership, the intelligence safety uh uh working group, as it was then now, expert group. So that event now complements the work of the the expert group, which works throughout the course of each year. Really cutting the edge on intelligence safety and what that means. And as we know, that's that's evolving year on year as the technology of mobility uh evolves and pushes the boundary of mobility forward. So a really wonderful thing, really wonderful thing to have that embedded in China uh and really relevant for anyone involved in in the safety of mobility. And then, of course, EuroBrake, another thing we've scaled uh in the 12 years that I've been leading the FISITA organization. And where once EuroBrake, you know, uh well, it still is the world's largest uh breaking technology conference. We hold it on an annual basis, always around a thousand delegates, a hundred exhibitors, and a real deep dive into uh into break technology. But that's man, that's changing so fast. It's uh it's really unbelievable, you know. And I think at this year's conference we were we were all impressed with the the advancement of enclosed wet breaking systems to answer some of the the challenges of emissions and longevity and and and and really challenging the fundamentals of brake technology and some of the technologists we you know we have along at EuroBrake are really you know those progressive guys that are working on you know some some really wonderful things. So you know that exists for its own for you know real purpose, as does intelligence safety and uh uh summer and WMC just kind of you know wrap around the whole piece. And you know, that's that's the events business of FISITA. We really reduce that coming out of COVID in place uh in favour, sorry, of more digital engagement that then complements the in-person stuff. And as we said earlier, you know, delivering the most successful period in FISITA's history is because of this blended engagement strategy that we uh that we've been working so hard this last few years.
Martin KahlWe're developing FISITA Summit 2026. We're also already looking ahead to Summit 2028, and it will be interesting to see how the flow of conversation from 2024 to EV or not to EV 2026, embracing the complexities of mobility, where that conversation will go next in 2028. But that's for another time, and uh Summit's the big event in just a few weeks. But I know you need to head off and prepare for your trip to China, Chris. So thanks for taking the time to discuss Summit and for being on FISITA's Beyond
Outro
Martin Kahlthe Car podcast.
Martin Kahl
I'd like to thank ChangHwan and Chris for being on the podcast. You can, of course, learn more about FISITA at FISITA.com. And if you'd like to be involved in this podcast or any other FISITA activities, reach out and get in touch. Thanks to Martyn Strong for production duties as ever. And finally, thank you for listening to this episode of FISITA's Beyond the Car Podcast.
