Mário Rocha
Manuel Monteiro
Mário Fernandes
Managing director of BMW Group Portugal
He has a degree in economics and two postgraduate qualifications: one in business management and the other in international marketing. His CV includes 40 years of experience in several areas of the automotive sector, having joined BMW Portugal in 2004, where he has held various positions. Mário Fernandes has been, however, MD of BMW Group Portugal since 2014. Inevitably, he tells us about a ‘future’ that has already begun; the future of ‘autonomous, connected, electric and shared mobility’, although he ensures us that there is no date for the extinction of combustion cars.
Is there a day when the internal combustion car will retire?
Combustion cars are still part of our daily lives, and it is not expected that they will no longer be with us in the near future. Car manufacturers are currently faced with a number of challenges in the development of new, more environmentally friendly and efficient forms of mobility, not only through the development of new engines, but also through the creation of electrified vehicles with greater autonomy.
Electric and hybrid. Is this the future?
More than a future restricted to a type of vehicle, we believe that the future will involve autonomous, connected, electric and shared mobility, in which several factors will condition the future options of mobility. In Portugal the demand for greener and more efficient cars can already be felt, given that in 2017 there was a 238% increase in sales of electric vehicles.
What was the reason behind BMW starting a partnership with the Portuguese company Critical Software?
At BMW Group we believe that the automotive industry will change more in the next ten years than it has changed in the last one hundred. At the moment, BMW Group is strongly committed to playing an active role in building the digital revolution of the automotive industry, and the partnership with Critical Software has been conceived as an important step towards achieving this goal.
«The BMW Group is strongly committed to playing an active role in building the digital revolution of the automotive industry»
The prices of electric cars remain prohibitive. If one of the main reasons for their existence is protecting the planet, shouldn’t there be more support?
Of course there could be more support, but Portugal is at the forefront in terms of supporting electric mobility and developing the charging network. Portugal currently has one of the most attractive tax incentive packages in the European Union. However, incentives are not that attractive for private individuals. We are now at the beginning of the market phase of this type of vehicle, and as such, just as with tax incentives, more measures designed to stabilise and develop the charging network are needed.
BMW Group Portugal performed exceptionally well in 2017. Do you expect this enthusiasm to continue in 2018?
2017 was excellent. For the third year in a row BMW Group Portugal has enjoyed its best year ever, in all its business units. In 2018 the enthusiasm continues and we hope to achieve new records.
