Detroit — The 2025 SAE WCX (World Congress Experience) is open through Thursday at Huntington Place in downtown Detroit. I attended the leadership summit session titled “The New Growth Mandate for Automakers: Building New Businesses and Customer Experiences”.
The moderator, John Waraniak from Have Blue LLC, discussed the subjects they will be talking about such as: the next level growth trends. “How growth leaders capitalize on the data by managing it like a consumer product. First we embrace AI and digitalization, control value chain, develop new talent, engage in adjacent markets, extend the zero dollar car, and go to a place of action, learning and value creation.”
Alex Purdy from Ford Motor Co. LTD, says he came to Ford about five years ago from John Deere. “Think about how the world of vehicle changes in which more and more consumers are making choices related to their software services as opposed to the physical hardware associated with that vehicle. From a retail perspective we have four major offerings: 1-Blue Cruise, 2-Connectivity Package, 3-Security Package, and 4-Mobile applications.”
“Ford has got the leading market share in commercial vehicles that work. We really focus on driving productivity and redefining the vehicle experience. Data acts as the connective tissue.” At Ford we have an Integrated Bill of Rights which includes safety, choice, privacy and simplicity. All these gives added value and bring joy to the consumer,” added Purdy.
Mahendra Muli from Amazon Web Services, says it’s his 25th year being with SAE. “I am surprised to see the amount of products and excitement from SAE. The automotive industry is leaning into software-defined vehicles. We are deploying in AI services which delivers the future of mobility. The next generation experiences are table stakes with personal customer experiences, optimized hardware and software through supply chains, customer obsessed innovation and seamless digital customer engagement. We are redefining the vehicle experience by smart integration, advanced safety systems, personalization capabilities, enhanced connectivity, enhanced entertainment and environment awareness. Hyundai provides a digital showroom on Amazon.com.”
Scott Vickery from Fox Factory Inc. talked about the customer experience. “Decisions and data are coming faster. It parallels where we are. So what is next? I engaged with Toyota and Stellantis and we take those relationships and bring them together and bring them to he next level. Auto, power sports and bike crosses over in many ways that go under the Fox Factory umbrella.”
He showed a video of bike riding in the desert. “I bike ride myself. Sometimes we look at the customer experience from an engineering perspective. Our technology has enabled us to go faster, further and safer. High speed, high impact and a lot of decisions; that’s where the technology really starts to interact with business today. The driver has to make many decisions, are they gonna to left or go right, which mode am I gonna have to activate. As you think about it, it’s really kind of parallel where we are. How can we use that technology and customer experience to take away some of that guesswork. That’s where we look at it today as what’s next. Fox Factory does just that.”
There is also a Ride & Drive in the lower level where a professional driver takes you on a ride and shows you the latest technology of these vehicles. Featured vehicles are: Volvo XC60, Hyundai Santa Fe, Ford Escape plug-in hybrid, Chevy Equinox, Chevy Blazer, Jeep Wagoneer, among others.
The 2025 SAE WCX continues through Thursday. For more info, go to: https://wcx.sae.org/
— all photos by Jerome Rzucidlo / AmericaJR