Category: Industry News

Industry News

Booming UTV Market Can Boost the Bottom Line for Accessory Shops

September 8, 2020

Booming UTV Market Can Boost the Bottom Line for Accessory Shops SEPTEMBER 8, 2020 // JEFF VARICK The UTV market is an exploding segment that most vehicle accessory shops haven’t noticed, yet — but that’s sure to change before long. Insiders expect the UTV industry to see a boom from $11 billion in 2018 to about $14 billion by 2025. A record 458,000 UTVs were sold in the United States in 2018, up 5.9% from 2017 and a whopping 95.3% gain from 2006. On top of it all, UTV owners are actively looking for aftermarket accessories. That opens terrific opportunities for auto accessory shops that get in the door first. What’s behind the sudden upsurge in UTV popularity? Several things: The powersport vehicles are easy for novices to control, but exciting enough for experienced consumers. They handle rugged terrain as well as roads. Many states are legalizing UTVs for road use — there’s no need for a secondary vehicle or trailer. They’re more affordable than some other options. Side-by-side seating means you don’t have to buy multiple vehicles for the whole family to enjoy them. They’re versatile enough for work and play. They’re tons of fun. UTVs, or side-by-sides, have found a broader audience than many other powersport vehicles. They used to be stuck with the “with age comes the cage” label, but now families are getting into them. Trendwatchers expect the UTV market to keep exploding for years to come. One of the reasons is their versatility. Side-by-sides are being used in a wide variety of activities — everything from off-roading to dune jumping, trailing, hunting, rock crawling, mud bogging, and touring on the road. Aftermarket Opportunities Since these vehicles are being used in such versatile environments, manufacturers don’t want to load them up with features and accessories. For the most part, they come pretty bare bones from the factory. But consumers are eager to accessorize. Market research shows that about 82% of UTV owners have purchased or plan to purchase upgrades to their UTVs, and they’re making accessory decisions early. Most owners purchase upgrades within three months, and UTV upgrade spending is up over 50 percent since 2018. What do consumers want? Enhanced functionality tops the list, since side-by-sides are often used year-round, for all kinds of activities in diverse environments. UTV owners also care about safety, durability, and practicality. So the most popular accessories include hitch balls, tow hitch receivers, and rearview mirrors. SummitView™ Rock Cameras Rearview mirrors are a big deal for UTV owners. If you’re buckled in with a five-point harness and a fully-formed seat, you can’t turn your head. It’s very difficult to see to the side or behind the vehicle. And because many side-by-sides don’t even come with mirrors, that means you have a 180-degree blindspot when you’re hitting the trails or tearing it up on the dunes. You could slam into your buddy’s vehicle and never see them coming. Brandmotion’s SummitView™ UTV Rear Vision System (SUTV-2010 and SUTV-2020) changes that. Our SUTV lineup gives you either one or two cameras and a bright 7-inch display so you can always see behind you. The must-have offroading backup system easily mounts to the rear of any offroad vehicle. It’s especially helpful for backing up on tight trails and is equipped with infrared technology to deliver superior nighttime vision. The dual-camera option (SUTV-1020V2) lets you mount a camera on the front bumper. It’s an ideal solution for heavy-duty rock crawlers and boggers that need to see multiple camera angles and approach angles. Position the front camera downwards to see the approach angle as you’re going down a steep hill. The display features a DVR system that lets you record your trips and capture footage of jumping Razors at the dunes. Don’t Miss Out on the UTV Opportunities Most auto accessory shops still haven’t caught onto the UTV market yet, but this is a huge new segment worth going after. Not only are parts priced more, but owners are willing to spend more — and they’re eager to upgrade. What are you doing to grab the UTV market? Order the SummitView Rock Camera at Crutchfield  Latest Post Brandmotion and DENSO Announce Partnership for One Stop Vehicle Integration of Advanced Connectivity Technology Get Better Results in Less Time on Your Connected Vehicle Deployment Brandmotion Expands Its Digital FullVUE® Mirror Lineup to Add Ford Bronco What To Know Before Installing A Jeep Backup Camera

What Should You Expect from a Connected Vehicle Integrator?

September 1, 2020 Industry News

What Should You Expect from a Connected Vehicle Integrator? SEPTEMBER 1, 2020 // JEFF VARICK It isn’t easy to hire a service provider for a connected vehicle deployment. The field is still new enough that SmartCities have to feel their way through the dark. You don’t know what you don’t know, and the last thing you want is to have something come back to bite you in the tailpipe — like hiring the wrong contractor. A connected vehicle deployment project involves seven sections that are complex, highly technical, and tightly integrated with each other. What happens in early stages has a major impact on later stages — so it’s critical to make the right decisions out of the gate. The right project manager can be the difference between a successful connected vehicle deployment and a disastrous one. Brandmotion Solutions has had our hands in enough connected vehicle projects to become the nation’s leader in vehicle-side integration. We’re able to handle every aspect of a vehicle integration, from start to finish. Here’s how we do it.  1) Establishing Requirements The documents you have to write are long and intricate. It takes someone with a real gift for writing and project management to be able to complete one of these documents. Most of our clients have a lot of anxiety about the vehicle requirements plan, because they know they need to get a lot of vehicles equipped, but they don’t know what the vehicles’ limitations are. Brandmotion Solutions engineers have the experience with these documents that most installation companies don’t have. You won’t have to explain to us what a concept of operations is, and you won’t have to do it yourself. We know the information to plug into your process. Three ways you’ll see a difference with Brandmotion: OBU spec development The OBU supplier needs to know what apps will be loaded onto the OBU. We can help set the standards and the specifications, so that the proper equipment is purchased to do the job you want done. HMI type selection At one time, OBUs only used tones for notifications. Drivers didn’t know what they meant — if they were about to get T-boned or rear-ended, or something else. Brandmotion Solutions saw a tremendous opportunity to create a visual display for the driver, so they would know exactly what the warning was about. We developed visual notifications for rearview mirrors and heads-up displays that are projected onto the windshield. Both HMIs have opened up a whole new kind of solution for connected vehicle deployments. Vehicle pool analysis We can analyze the pool of vehicles in your state’s fleet — all of the emergency vehicles, snowplows, buses and more. We’ll analyze what it will take to integrate with those vehicles, then design an engineering solution that’s specific for each type of vehicle. 2) System Design and Engineering Once we’ve established the project requirements, we begin designing the solutions. Your CV deployment project can go very wrong if you expect to buy an OBU and simply wire it into each of your vehicles. You need to be very systematic and thoughtful. Every vehicle has its own system, which requires unique design solutions. Brandmotion Solutions can design an integration solution for every car, no matter what make, model, year, or trim level. We’ll design for every element of the system in the installation — CAN, antennas, wiring harness, applications, HMI, and more. Let’s take a look at two of our specialties. CAN data requirements and decoding/aggregating Of the 500 messages that can be decoded in a vehicle, only a dozen or so are actually needed. We’ll determine which CAN messages are relevant, and decode them for every vehicle in the deployment. Often, we have that dataset in our databases already. If not, we’ll get hold of a vehicle that matches and decode it before we begin working on the vehicle in your pool. App use case development There are 60 different applications that can be loaded onto an OBU, but your deployment probably only needs about a dozen of them. We’ll determine the apps that are relevant to meeting your project goals. 3) Hardware Sourcing and Manufacturing There’s a range of OBU suppliers to choose from, but each one is different from the others. Depending on your connected vehicle project, some OBUs will be more ideal than others. We use the Kepner-Tregoe Matrix to run an analysis that determines which hardware is best for your particular project. The process creates a systematic, disciplined sourcing method for all the hardware. 4) Validating the Vehicle System After designing a solution, it’s important to put it in a vehicle and perform interoperability testing to make sure it interacts properly with the roadside units (RSUs). As you can imagine, this is especially important when you have hundreds of vehicles in the project. You don’t want to install 1,000 units, only to discover that they don’t play well with RSUs! 5) Recruitment and Scheduling Your project depends on getting the drivers you need for the study. We can help recruit and train the consumers who will be part of the pilot. We’ll greet them and show a brief training video when they get the OBU installed in their vehicle. The goal is to make sure they’re very comfortable with the new equipment and understand how to interact with it. 6) Installation Brandmotion Solutions does installation from an assembly line mentality, and we use installation time reduction studies. This allows us to reduce wasted time and redundancies as we progress through the installations. In one project, when we started installations, they took three hours. After doing a time reduction study, we were able to reduce installation time to 90 minutes. One of the ways we keep on pace is by using a dashboard reporting tool. Every week we can show you how many vehicles we installed, what issues there were, the average install time, and when we expect to complete the project. It’s an accountability tool that helps us run at peak production and

Curb Alert™ Puts the Brakes on Parking Disasters

August 20, 2020 Industry News

Curb Alert™ Puts the Brakes on Parking Disasters AUGUST 25, 2020 // JEFF VARICK Sports car owners love the low ride, the hug of the road, the connection to the pavement. What they don’t love is parking. Parking often means pulling up, getting out, checking curb distance, jumping back in, pulling up a bit more, and getting out again to check. It dampens the driving experience that a luxury or sports car should give. The worst sound a sports car or luxury car owner can hear is the CRUNCH of a front bumper against an unseen curb or parking block. Front end damage on sports and luxury cars can mean hundreds or thousands of dollars in repairs. Brandmotion can deliver problem-free parking that lives up to the driving experience. Problem-free Parking Brandmotion’s Curb Alert™ Parking System can protect drivers from ever crunching or scraping their front bumpers while parking. Curb Alert is an infrared parking sensor that alerts drivers of low-lying obstructions that can cause costly damage to the vehicle. The system senses curbs, parking blocks, and any low-lying object on the ground that you can’t see. The device gives an audible alert when you approach an object within range. Sensitivity can be adjusted from as little as 12 inches to a maximum of 30 inches. Curb Alert simply hooks into power and ground. Depending on the model, it actuates a camera or audible alert when you approach an object. Better Than Factory Sensors Curb Alert is a patented system that no other parking sensor can match. The devices that come closest to it are the factory-installed ultrasonic parking sensors. While factory sensors can detect objects, the comparison ends there. Curb Alert can tell the difference between a wall, a parking block, and someone standing in front of the car. An ultrasonic sensor is triggered by any object that’s two feet away, no matter the size or height. Factory sensors aren’t foolproof, either. If a parking block is low enough, an ultrasonic sensor may not pick it up. Curb Alert can be set to an exact distance and a specific height to match the car’s ground clearance. Easy Installation When we designed Curb Alert, it had to be quick and easy to install. All it takes is connecting to power and ground, and mounting the sensor. The simple, no-drill application includes bracket designs for a customized fit. When it’s time to purchase a new vehicle, Curb Alert can be easily removed and transferred, leaving no marks on the original car. Curb Alert truly integrates to an OEM level — just set it and forget it! Seamless Integration Brandmotion products are known for seamless integration with the vehicle, and Curb Alert is no exception. The only part of the product you can see is the discreetly placed front sensor, which can be mounted either on top or under the lower part of the valence of the front bumper. The calibration box and speaker are tucked under the dash, out of sight and out of the way. Seven Products to Fit Your Needs Brandmotion currently offers seven Curb Alert products in the series: 3 universal devices that are compatible with any vehicle 2 Corvette-specific devices 2 Mustang-specific devices More products are currently in development. 5000-CA5 The Curb Alert PRO is designed for professional installers. The high-end, simplified wiring goes off keyed power, rather than constant power. There’s absolutely no power going to it when the vehicle is off, which means customers won’t run into any electrical issues or unwanted power draw. It also means you don’t have to worry about comebacks. 5000-CA6 The Curb Alert Parkview PRO is a modified CA5 system with a front camera — and is the first and only auto-trigger front camera parking aid system. When the device senses an object, it turns on a front camera and provides a quick three-beep audible alert. 5000-CA13 This DIY-grade system is simple enough to be installed by a customer. Based on the CA5, the system connects to battery power rather than key-on power. The smart control module detects when the vehicle is shut off to prevent drain on the battery. This device has the same quality as the CA5, but it comes with one additional benefit: unlike the CA5/CA6, you can calibrate the parking sensor without the vehicle being on. 5000-CA8/CA9 The CA8 and CA9 are specific to the 2015-2020 Mustang. Each comes with a video interface to the factory 4-inch or 8-inch screen. 5000-CA12/CA14 The CA12 is specific for C5/C6 Corvettes and the CA14 is designed for C7 Corvettes. The audible-only sensor comes with specific instructions on how and where to install the system on the C5/C6/C7 Corvettes — sensor, power wirings, and how to run them. Quit Fretting About Parking Having Curb Alert is like owning an affordable insurance policy on your luxury or sports car’s front end – on most newer vehicles, the parking sensor pays for itself the first time it saves your bumper. Once you have the system, it’s hard to drive the vehicle without it, because it’s so convenient. Order Curb Alert at Crutchfield or Amazon, or find an installer near you. Latest Post Brandmotion and DENSO Announce Partnership for One Stop Vehicle Integration of Advanced Connectivity Technology Get Better Results in Less Time on Your Connected Vehicle Deployment Brandmotion Expands Its Digital FullVUE® Mirror Lineup to Add Ford Bronco What To Know Before Installing A Jeep Backup Camera

The Tiny Box That Simplifies CAN Decoding for CV Deployments

August 18, 2020 Industry News

The Tiny Box That Simplifies CAN Decoding for CV Deployments AUGUST 18, 2020 // JEFF VARICK Integrating connected vehicle technology into your fleet vehicles isn’t as simple as plugging an onboard unit (OBU) into a power source. The OBU needs to receive certain signals from the vehicle — signals like steering wheel angles, speed, and turn signals. That data tells the OBU what the vehicle is doing so that it can relay the information data to roadside devices. The trick is getting vehicle data from the car to the OBU. Let’s explore the challenges and opportunities that affect your connected vehicle deployment. Reading Vehicle Data In general, the simplest way to get information is to connect directly into the analog wires you’re monitoring, such as the turn signals. But that presents a new problem: connecting the OBU to physical signals would require pulling off multiple panels around the car and routing wires throughout the vehicle to the OBU. Not only is that an invasive installation, it’s also incredibly time consuming. It makes maintenance, repairs, and uninstalls more complex and time-consuming, too. On top of that, you can’t get all the information you need from physical wires. Using CAN to Read Vehicle Data On the other hand, you can grab all the data you need from the CAN bus. This gives you the option of connecting the OBU to one source, in one spot, without pulling off any panels. Integrating with the CAN gives you incredible time savings on installations, but there’s a downside. Because CAN data is proprietary to the vehicle manufacturer, it has to be manually decoded. And because every vehicle make, model, and year uses a different CAN, most CV deployments require several — maybe even hundreds — of separate CAN decodings. It’s a time consuming and expensive endeavor. Once the CAN data is decoded, your OBU has to have a way of communicating the information to the roadside units. That means translating CAN data from multiple types of vehicles into one standardized CAN. There are devices on the market that can do that, but they come loaded with other functions you’ll never need, which boosts the price of those units impractically high. Fortunately, Brandmotion Solutions can help. CAN Decoding Solutions for CV Deployments Brandmotion Solutions provides customized CAN decoding services and a CAN translator that costs just a fraction of the price of other solutions. Our proprietary CAN aggregator is a tiny unit that translates a vehicle’s CAN messages into a standardized output. The output signal is the same across all the vehicles in your deployment, which makes it easy to communicate with roadside devices. In effect, thousands of different vehicles in a single deployment are now speaking the same language. Many vehicles have multiple CAN buses — high speed, medium speed, and low speed — but most OBUs only have one input. Brandmotion Solution’s CAN aggregator has up to three inputs, which are combined into one output to the OBU. The CAN aggregator sits on the vehicle’s CAN bus as a listen-only device. It won’t interfere with the bus’s firewall protocols, and it can’t affect the performance of the vehicle in any way. Many companies can provide CAN decoding, but no other company offers a unit that translates vehicle-specific CAN into a standardized CAN across vehicle types as affordably. The Brandmotion CAN aggregator costs a fraction of the price of other units, because other products come bundled with functions that don’t apply to CV deployment projects. Our unit does one specific job — the only job you need it to do, without all the extras you’ll never need. Trust the Leaders in CV Deployment Brandmotion Solution’s CAN decoding services make OBU vehicle integration simpler, faster, and less expensive. OBU maintenance and repairs are simpler, and post-project installation is a breeze. Brandmotion Solutions is the specialist that automotive technology companies rely on most for OEM-quality installation and integration. No other company offers the breadth or depth of connected vehicle work that we can provide. Whether it’s for one vehicle or a fleet of 10,000, we can meet challenges in real time and deliver a road-ready product. Start working with us today! Latest Post Brandmotion and DENSO Announce Partnership for One Stop Vehicle Integration of Advanced Connectivity Technology Get Better Results in Less Time on Your Connected Vehicle Deployment Brandmotion Expands Its Digital FullVUE® Mirror Lineup to Add Ford Bronco What To Know Before Installing A Jeep Backup Camera

Is Sanitizing Your Fleet Vehicles Enough to Protect Your Drivers?

August 11, 2020 Industry News

Is Sanitizing Your Fleet Vehicles Enough to Protect Your Drivers? AUGUST 11, 2020 // JEFF VARICK Suddenly we find ourselves living in a world where everyone is concerned about protection and safety. You’re probably thinking on a whole new level about your vehicles, the people who drive them, and how to keep them safe. You’re probably also dealing with questions like these: Are we sanitizing our vehicles properly? What do we truly need to do to protect our drivers’ health? What are the regional COVID-19 regulations where our drivers are traveling? A great place to start is Brandmotion Solutions’ industry-leading vehicle sanitization protocol. These are important questions, but they’re just the start. When it comes to the health of your drivers, the coronavirus is only one aspect of a holistic safety perspective. It’s important not only to develop an approach to protect your people from COVID-19, but from all other dangers on the road as well. Safety is more encompassing than merely sanitizing your seats and steering wheels. It includes protecting your employees from collisions and distracted driving. In today’s world, safety means doing everything you can to keep your drivers and your equipment safe, and that includes avoiding collisions. Welcome to the Age of Safety We’re in a new world, and you’ve got to up your safety game. Everyone’s talking about it, and undoubtedly your stakeholders, shareholders, and executives have a heightened interest in keeping your employees safe and protected. If you haven’t done it yet, now is the best time to develop an overarching safety program for your fleet. One important aspect of any safety program is the safety technology you use. At a minimum, consider including backup cameras, dash cams, and blindspot protections. Even your older fleet vehicles should include these technologies. Advanced driver-assistance systems (ADAS) aren’t just nice-to-have equipment anymore. Study after study has proven the collision reduction effectiveness of emerging ADAS technology. For example: Forward collision warning reduced front-to-rear crashes by 27 percent Blind spot detection yielded a 14 percent drop in lane-change crashes Rear cross-traffic alerts reduced backing crashes by 22 percent Lane departure warning resulted in 11 percent fewer single-vehicle, sideswipe and head-on crashes Rearview cameras dropped backing crashes by 17 percent Parking sensors reduced rear crashes by 18%, but in conjunction with a rearview camera, they reduced crashes by an impressive 38%. Blind spot warning and rear cross traffic alert have the highest satisfaction and perceived benefit among drivers. Consumer Reports recommends them for every vehicle. It’s hard to argue with the numbers. But not every fleet manager is investing in ADAS equipment for their drivers. Is Safety Too Costly? Many fleet managers take a pass on ramping up the safety of their fleet vehicles. They think that getting ADAS equipment means purchasing new vehicles or buying clunky aftermarket components. The truth is, you can get OEM-quality ADAS technologies that are seamlessly integrated into the fleet vehicles you’re already operating. Brandmotion supplies retrofit technology that rivals factory equipment. Our technologies are just as accurate as factory-installed ADAS equipment, but they’re more affordable: you don’t have to buy a vehicle with a high trim level. They’re also easier to keep calibrated. Lower crash rates are a clear benefit of these technologies, but collisions can still occur. In that case, Brandmotion gives you a further advantage: repairing vehicles with our safety equipment is less expensive than with factory-installed components. If your vehicle is involved in a collision, not only do you need to repair the body, but you have to recalibrate the advanced driver assistance system that has sensors in the windshield. That can be very expensive. Our products are easy to self-calibrate, which means you don’t have to go to pay a dealership to do it for you. How to Get Started Equipping your fleet with the right safety technologies depends on making informed decisions. Brandmotion can walk you through your choices and help you custom-tailor a program that fits your needs. We’re vehicle experts with decades of deep experience in the auto industry. No matter what you’re driving in your fleet, we know exactly what can (and can’t) be added to your vehicles to get the greatest results. As consultants, we can educate you with government studies that recommend various technologies for particular scenarios. We can also help with ROI calculations and cost/benefit analysis. When you’re ready, our Brandmotion Solutions group can install the equipment and train your drivers how to use it. Brandmotion commonly trains and certifies installers during our retrofit deployments, so your fleet develops your workforce at the same time you develop your infrastructure. This makes a fleet truly smart! Don’t Wait to Play It Safe As safety awareness skyrockets, it’s the responsibility of every fleet manager to make sure your vehicles are properly sanitized from the coronavirus. But safety only begins there — and more than ever, organizations need to take the next step to protect their drivers on the road. Let’s start the conversation about what the right safety program looks like for your fleet. Latest Post Brandmotion and DENSO Announce Partnership for One Stop Vehicle Integration of Advanced Connectivity Technology Get Better Results in Less Time on Your Connected Vehicle Deployment Brandmotion Expands Its Digital FullVUE® Mirror Lineup to Add Ford Bronco What To Know Before Installing A Jeep Backup Camera

How Robust Are Your Vehicle Protection Protocols for COVID-19?

July 21, 2020 Industry News

How Robust Are Your Vehicle Protection Protocols for COVID-19? JULY 21, 2020 // JEFF VARICK When you’re getting in and out of government vehicles all over the country, it’s natural for SmartCities to be concerned about COVID-19 contamination in their fleets. Whether it’s the coronavirus crisis or flu season, Brandmotion Solutions is on top of it. In fact, we’re leading the connected vehicle environment to ensure fleet and personal vehicles are protected from coronavirus contamination. Here’s how we’re doing it. SmartCities Shut Down Amid Coronavirus Confusion At the beginning of the coronavirus period, SmartCities didn’t know what the risks were. There was a lot of confusion about protective measures and appropriate restrictions. Brandmotion Solutions was engaged in three connected vehicle projects that involved fleet and private participant vehicles, and each project immediately shut everything down until they could assess the risks adequately. The shutdown froze our activities just before launching installation sequencing. We took that time to study more about vehicle protection methods that could be deployed in a practical way. The effort took more than 100 hours of research, documentation, and review. To our surprise, the CDC had very little information related to vehicles, but OSHA was a helpful resource. We also compared notes with car repair shops and other partners in the field to validate what they had learned. After investigating several potential methodologies, we determined the most practical and effective approach: a rigorous hands-on process that involved sanitizing with hand wipes, wearing personal protective equipment (PPE), and using protective coverings on the vehicle. The Brandmotion Solutions Clean Vehicle Process The Brandmotion Solutions Clean Vehicle Process places the right protection on the car, and in the right order. The method addresses: PPE and handwashing Wipedown of the vehicle’s contact surfaces Applying seat covers, steering wheel covers, and floor mats Key transfer After developing the Clean Vehicle Process, we submitted the procedure to each City for review and comment. It then went through a couple iterations to finalize a robust and thorough sanitization procedure that all parties were confident in using. Developing the protocol helped open up the path to relaunching the installation sequence at our three project sites, and we have been performing installations since May. This has been an industry-leading effort within the connected vehicle environment. As far as we know, no other organization in this field has built out a vehicle safety procedure that is as inclusive and thorough as Brandmotion Solutions’ protocol. That’s why we’re sharing the procedure freely with automotive companies and SmartCities — and any other organization that’s interested. A major Tier-1 automotive supplier adopted the Brandmotion Solutions protocol for use with a state DOT project that’s intended to be used for thousands of vehicles. The Clean Vehicle Process follows a simple but rigorous protocol. At a high level, the procedure includes: Health check each day No more than 10 persons in the service bay area at a time. Clean hands, sanitize keys Go to the vehicle, wipe down the seats with antibacterial. Wipe down all of the contact surfaces you would encounter as you enter the vehicle. Put protection on the seats, floor, and steering wheel. Sit inside and drive the vehicle in for installation. Hand off to installer. After installation, sanitize the car again. Remove and discard any of the PPE that we put on the vehicle. In essence, we’re protecting vehicles before, during and after we install onboard units. Of course, the devil’s in the details, and our safety protocol is rigorous in its approach. You can get all the details by downloading the protocol for your own use. We’ve already distributed the procedure to other companies, including competitors — because everyone’s safety is everyone’s business. Download the Brandmotion Solutions Clean Vehicle Process Our Pledge to Protect At Brandmotion Solutions, our top concern is the safety of our customers and the industry as a whole. We want to see the vehicle safety industry continue to advance and make new contributions, even during the coronavirus period. Whether you’re a SmartCity or a solutions provider, let’s continue the conversation about advancing vehicle protections during COVID-19, and beyond. We want you to be assured and comfortable that your project is safe — for your organization, for your people, and for us all. Latest Post Brandmotion and DENSO Announce Partnership for One Stop Vehicle Integration of Advanced Connectivity Technology Get Better Results in Less Time on Your Connected Vehicle Deployment Brandmotion Expands Its Digital FullVUE® Mirror Lineup to Add Ford Bronco What To Know Before Installing A Jeep Backup Camera

Get Better Results in Less Time on Your Connected Vehicle Deployment

July 14, 2020 Industry News

Get Better Results in Less Time on Your Connected Vehicle Deployment JULY 14, 2020 // JEFF VARICK If your city is leading a Connected Vehicle pilot deployment program, you can expect the project to fall behind schedule by months — and possibly even years, if you don’t assemble the right team up front. It’s an unfortunate reality, because you’re taking on a completely new kind of initiative. Every SmartCity’s project is unique, and best practices are still being discovered. But what if there was a way to ensure a more successful CV deployment project, in less time? Brandmotion Solutions recently completed a connected vehicle deployment project in Tampa, Florida, that caught the attention of SmartCities nationwide. The Tampa CV Pilot, led by the Tampa Hillsborough Expressway Authority (THEA), was one of three pilots awarded by the USDOT in 2016 for testing CV technologies using dedicated short-range communications (DSRC). Thanks to excellent project leadership by the THEA Project Manager, Bob Frey, and his pioneering use of the Vehicle Integrator role, the Tampa project wrapped up a year ago. It is currently collecting data from nearly 1000 vehicles, while the other two pilots launched at the same time are still ongoing and not expected to be completed soon. What made the difference? Connected Vehicle Projects Can Be Frustrating Connected Vehicle pilot programs aren’t the core business for most City Project Managers. City infrastructure managers are deeply familiar with challenges like roadway capacity and intersection technology, but adding technology and receiving data from demonstration vehicles is outside the typical ITS skillset. There are many unique decisions to be made. Which OBUs should you use? Which vehicles are candidates for demo? Which City fleet partners are the best choice? How do you ensure that you get good results? What security system should you use? Who are the right partners? These are just a few of the questions and challenges facing any city manager responsible for planning and performing a pilot deployment. More than ever, expert partner qualification and selection rises to the top of the list, because few cities own the kind of resources to make these projects happen on their own. Your CV Integration Can Save Time and Frustration Bob Frey at THEA was forward-thinking. He saw the benefits of hiring a single partner to act as vehicle integrator and installer on the vehicle side of the program. After a visit to Detroit and a tour of MCity at the University of Michigan, THEA hired Brandmotion Solutions to run the entire vehicle side of the project. Brandmotion Solutions is an end-to-end provider for everything related to connected vehicle integrations — from OBU sourcing and testing, to system validation and large scale installations. Here’s what you get when you make Brandmotion your one-stop shop for vehicle integration. 1) Better results in less time The familiar CV project model hires a project manager, who then hires OBU suppliers, application graphic designers, harness makers, antenna suppliers, installers, interoperability test engineers and other specialists who are needed to make the program come together. Because these teams have typically never worked together before, there’s a lot of stumbling through the project during handoffs and communications. Extra meetings are needed, and a lot of time is spent just figuring out how to work together. Brandmotion Solutions lets you remove the excess players from the equation. Because our internal teams are constantly collaborating, we’ve optimized our processes for efficiency and performance. A single partner with greater efficiency means you’ll get better results in less time. 2) Single point accountability When a project management firm hires subcontractors, they inherently introduce a messy communication chain: Multiple parties have to weigh in on decisions. Complications are never simple to resolve. Differences in organizations mean misunderstandings easily arise. Information has to pass through several channels. Who’s accountable? Not only is it hard to figure out where the buck stops, but you can’t always tell who’s supposed to be doing what. Your CV integration can avoid these obstacles by sourcing the entire vehicle-side project to a single Vehicle Integrator. Because all the teams are internal, everyone is on the same page, working under shared assumptions, using a streamlined communication process they’re familiar with. And you always know where the buck stops. 3) Deep vehicle expertise Many project management firms have deep experience on the roadside technology portion of a connected vehicle program. They’ve built their businesses on infrastructure. But they don’t have the experience or expertise to understand the OBU technologies and integrations. While they have great project management experience, it doesn’t translate well from infrastructure to vehicle. Brandmotion brings a depth of knowledge and experience that few organizations can provide, because we’ve been leaders in integrating vehicle safety technologies for years. We’ve seen every side of connected vehicle programs, we have a solid history with OBU suppliers, and we bring unparalleled expertise to every project. 4) Wealth of resources Often, even large project management firms have limited available resources to dedicate towards the OBU efforts. They may only provide one project manager, one technician, and an engineer. Brandmotion may be smaller, but we have a wealth of personnel resources. We can supply several installers, a project manager, a technical team, and sales personnel. Your CV pilot deployment program will be fully equipped with all the resources you need to ensure the most efficient integration possible. Don’t Sweat Your CV Deployment Project Connected Vehicle integrations may have a reputation for getting messy and extending too long, but you can get better results in less time. Rely on an integration specialist that has the expertise and resources to manage the entire OBU effort. Don’t just hire someone to provide the components — trust an end-to-end partner who can deliver a fully integrated system for vehicles of all sizes and types. Start optimizing your Connected Vehicle pilot deployment project. Latest Post Brandmotion and DENSO Announce Partnership for One Stop Vehicle Integration of Advanced Connectivity Technology Get Better Results in Less Time on Your Connected Vehicle Deployment

Deep Vehicle Retrofit Capabilities for SmartCities and Emerging Vehicle Technologies

July 7, 2020 Industry News

Deep Vehicle Retrofit Capabilities for SmartCities and Emerging Vehicle Technologies JULY 7, 2020 // JEFF VARICK For years, Brandmotion has provided vehicle integration services for emerging connected vehicle and emerging vehicle technologies. What started as several discrete projects has quickly grown into a robust branch of our organization. So, to provide SmartCities and Tier-1 companies the full support and resources they need to succeed, we’re launching its own platform. Brandmotion is excited to announce the new website for our subsidiary company, Brandmotion Solutions. What Is Brandmotion Solutions? Launched in 2014, Brandmotion Solutions is our vehicle integration services company. At the time, The University of Michigan’s MCity had just started running experiments in the emerging world of connected vehicle technology. It was the first site in the country to do a large-scale experiment. They used 2800 vehicles from the public to test how well it works to have one car talking to another car with dedicated short-range communication (DSRC) technology. MCity believed that using DSRC on the roads could save 80 percent of the 40,000 lives we lose each year. It’s a grand vision, like a moonshot. This piqued our attention, because we’re in the business of integrating retrofit safety technology to save lives on the road. But if the vision were to be realized in the near future, it would require outfitting cars that are already on the road. If you only install DSRC in new cars, it would take forever to implement. Brandmotion Solutions is on a mission to integrate these emerging technologies in vehicles that are on the road today. So far, we’ve helped 14 cities around the country to integrate emerging connected vehicle technologies, in projects that have ranged from a ten-vehicle study to a 2,000-vehicle initiative. At the same time, we’re helping safety technology providers, from established Tier 1 OEM suppliers, to emerging startups, integrate their new safety solutions into vehicles of all sizes across the country. Why Choose Brandmotion Solutions There’s a difference between installation and integration. Brandmotion Solutions doesn’t simply install a technology — we architect, design, build, and install emerging technology solutions. We can talk about vehicle integration at a deep level of expertise and insight, because we came out of the auto industry. Our knowledge of vehicle electrical systems and seamless physical integration techniques is unmatched. Our mission is to be the premiere vehicle integrator of emerging technology. That encompasses more than SmartCity integrations — we’re also helping Tier-1 and technology companies to showcase their emerging vehicle technologies. Brandmotion Solutions is the go-to provider for anyone who wants to retrofit new technologies into existing vehicles — whether it’s demonstrating a couple vehicles or a large-scale pilot with thousands of vehicles. Need more reasons to work with Brandmotion Solutions? Our in-house documentation team creates in-depth and repeatable installation procedures for all of our clients. WIN Network — Our own nationwide network of installer partners that lets us scale on-demand, no matter where your project is located. Workforce development training and “train the trainer” programs are available to cities and organizations that need to perform vehicle integration themselves. What to Expect from Brandmotion Solutions It can be challenging to take on a vehicle integration project, especially when you start to scale. You may not even know where to start. Consider this website your go-to resource to break it all down and understand the different phases of a connected vehicle or emerging vehicle project. You’ll learn how to begin, and what to look for in an integration services provider. We’ll showcase products that help integrate, provide educational articles, and keep you up-to-date on our exclusive offerings. Since 2014, we have received enthusiastic response from SmartCities and companies who appreciate our deep automotive experience and knowledge. Our partnership is designed to add clear value to the clients who are working to deploy lifesaving vehicle technology. We’re excited about sharing this expertise with you, and hope you’ll come back to this site often. Subscribe to the blog and connect with us with any questions — we’re here to serve everyone working hard to make our roads and communities safer. Start optimizing your vehicle project.  Latest Post Brandmotion and DENSO Announce Partnership for One Stop Vehicle Integration of Advanced Connectivity Technology Get Better Results in Less Time on Your Connected Vehicle Deployment Brandmotion Expands Its Digital FullVUE® Mirror Lineup to Add Ford Bronco What To Know Before Installing A Jeep Backup Camera

How One Fleet Uses ADAS Cameras to Save Millions of Dollars in Claims

July 2, 2020 Industry News

How One Fleet Uses ADAS Cameras to Save Millions of Dollars in Claims JULY 2, 2020 // JEFF VARICK If your fleet has a history of collision claims, it can put your entire business in jeopardy. Insurance premiums rise with every claim, and soon you’ll have fewer insurance agencies willing to bid on you. In a down economy, that’s a dangerous position for any organization to be in. Elliott Electric Supply knows what that feels like. When they found Brandmotion, their fleet’s insurance claims were spiraling out of control and they were about to be uninsurable. They needed an advanced driver-assisted safety (ADAS) system for their fleet that could reduce claims and lead to more affordable insurance rates. Customer’s business: Electrical supplies distribution Opportunity: Elliott Electrical was looking for an advanced driver-assistance system (ADAS) that would help reduce collisions and insurance claims Solution: Brandmotion ADAS-1000, ADAS-1100, FullVUE Results: Fewer claims, recovered costs, safer drivers, reduced insurance premiums About Elliott Electric Supply Elliott Electric Supply is a regional leader in the electrical supplies distribution industry, with over 165 stores throughout Texas and the southern states. It’s a large and growing company that just celebrated its first $1B sales year. The Challenge When Missy Thomas was hired as Human Resources and Safety Manager in 2014, she had no idea what awaited her. Their current auto insurance carrier elected not to renew their policy because of numerous auto collisions. Only one insurance company was willing to bid on the company at the upcoming renewal. “I started asking what we could do to change this,” Missy recalled. “Because we’re so spread out, it was hard for us to monitor 400+ drivers.” The Solution Missy started looking at ADAS fleet cameras, but every product she found was anywhere from $1200 to $2400 per installation. With 400 trucks, those dollars add up fast. But during her research, she came across Brandmotion. While Brandmotion’s cameras competed at the same level as other cameras, they only cost a fraction of the price. She reached out and ended up speaking personally with Brandmotion’s owner, Jeff Varick. She was impressed by his accessibility. “How many times do you get to talk to a company’s owner directly?” she said. “I asked the President (Lucas Frank) if he could come to Dallas to demo the product for me. He said, ‘Yeah, sure.’” That personalized attention was a big part of her decision to purchase Brandmotion safety systems. The Results Elliott Electric started with the ADAS-1000 and have since upgraded to the ADAS-1100. The results have been nothing short of impressive, and the company’s financial turnaround is almost unbelievable. Here are the benefits Elliott Electric is enjoying. Fewer claims Fleet vehicles tend to be a magnet for quick-buck schemes. “When you’re a big company and they see these trucks running all over the state, some drivers think they have an automatic lawsuit they can take advantage of,” Missy said. “I had someone call one day. He said, ‘This Elliott truck hit me when I was pulling out of a parking lot.’” So they looked at the video footage to see what really happened. “We got on the camera, and the car crossed four lanes of traffic and came right at the bed of our truck! It was hilarious to watch.” Since using Brandmotion safety cameras, Elliott Electric has reduced their annual claims from several millions of dollars to just a couple hundred thousand per year. Workers comp is now higher than their auto claims. Millions of dollars saved in legal fees As their insurance claims have decreased, so have their lawsuit costs. Even when their drivers have a role in a collision, Brandmotion ADAS cameras have helped drastically cut lawsuit payouts. In one case, they were delivering materials in the middle of the night, and a car suddenly collided into another vehicle right in front of the driver. There was no way to avoid the collision and the Elliott driver hit one of the cars. The driver at fault was killed in the collision, and Elliott Electric was being sued for $2.5 million. But the video showed what the other driver did, and proved that Elliott’s driver had no recourse. Brandmotion’s ADAS camera saved the company $2.1 million on that lawsuit. Fewer collisions Not only have Brandmotion safety cameras decreased Elliott’s costs per collision, but their collision rates have plummeted as well. In-vehicle cameras monitor driver activity and keep them accountable for safe driving practices. “We have a zero-tolerance distracted driving policy,” Missy said. If a driver’s behavior is responsible for a collision, the video will show it. That kind of accountability has improved safe driving practices. Reduced insurance costs by 50% Safer drivers, fewer claims, and lower payouts have made Elliott Electric increasingly attractive to insurance agencies. This company that could only get one insurance bid now has several insurance companies bidding on them every year. Their insurance premiums were eventually reduced to half of their 2013 rates! “That more than pays for the cameras in itself,” Missy said. The Next Thing Elliott is continuously looking for new ways to improve their safety and reduce costs. “Before Brandmotion, everything was happening — all types of wrecks,” Missy said. “But in the last few years, it’s been the backup accidents.” Brandmotion’s FullVUE™ Mirror is a versatile new safety device that helps prevent backup collisions. FullVUE replaces your current rearview mirror with a live streaming full HD video screen. It displays a clear, crisp unobstructed view of everything behind your vehicle. Drivers see exactly what they need to see with no obstructions of passengers, cargo or small rear windows. “FullVUE is going to be awesome,” Missy said. Discover how the FullVUE Mirror helps keep your fleet costs down. Make Your Fleet Safer Today At Brandmotion, our mission is to see your fleet equipped with crash-avoiding life-saving technology. We’re continuously introducing innovative products and services that prevent collisions and reduce costly claims. There are 270 million vehicles on the road today — we won’t

Do You Have These Blindspots in Your Approach to Fleet Vehicle Safety?

March 19, 2020 Industry News

Greater Visibility Keeps Your Fleet Costs Down MARCH 19, 2020 // JEFF VARICK As a fleet manager, you know there’s no such thing as a tiny accident. But you might be surprised how much each accident is costing you.  Fleets spend an average of $4500 on vehicle maintenance and repairs per year. Every day of downtime costs as much as $760 per day, with an average of 2.7 to 4.5 days out of service. With every crash, insurance premiums rise. The average fleet was expected to see their premiums go up by six to 12 percent in 2019. If an accident enters litigation, it could mean millions of dollars to your company. People are literally aiming for fleet vehicles, because they know they can get a settlement out of court. The average fleet vehicle accident costs employers about $16,500. It jumps to more than $74,000 if there are injuries, and $500,000 or more if there’s a fatality. If you can prevent just one accident, it could be worth hundreds of thousands — perhaps even millions — of dollars to your business. What if you could avoid fleet accidents, prevent those costs and even reduce your insurance premiums? A Sneaky Culprit The better you can see, the safer you’ll drive. Seeing forward is taken for granted, but most fleet drivers can’t see what’s going on around them — especially behind them. That makes it dangerous to back up or change lanes. Backing up occupies less than 1% of a driver’s time behind the wheel, but causes about 25% of all accidents. Your delivery trucks have blinders that increase the chances of an accident every time a driver backs up or changes lanes. Without a clear, unobstructed rear view, your fleet vehicle safety is at risk. The answer is simple: improve your drivers’ visibility and you’ll reduce accidents and cut your costs. Introducing the FullVUE Mirror™ Brandmotion introduces a way to improve driver safety, reduce fleet vehicle accidents, and keep costs down. The FullVUE Mirror gives your drivers a clear, unobstructed view behind your vans and trucks. This versatile safety device uses a full HD 1080p video screen to display exactly what they need to see, without the obstructions of passengers, cargo, or small rear windows.  The more information a driver can gather with their own two eyes, the more safely they’ll be able to travel. Your drivers can know exactly what’s going on behind them, even if your fleet trucks have no rear windows. That translates into fewer incidents on the road, whether backing up or changing lanes.  It also means fewer lawsuits if an incident does occur. Use Video to Eliminate Litigation Costs Every accident is a potential lawsuit, whether your driver is at fault or not. Most of the time, it comes down to one driver’s word against the other’s. Unfortunately, settling out of court is often the most expedient and least costly option for employers. But not anymore. The FullVUE Mirror’s always-on recording feature gives you indisputable video evidence that can eliminate the threat of litigation. The system comes with an HD rear camera and an HD front-facing camera that are continually recording. If there’s ever any question about a driver’s actions on the road, you’ll know exactly what happened. If an accident does occur, or a driver is reported for unsafe driving, you can go back to the video recording to see exactly what happened and who’s at fault. You don’t have to rely on a police report where both parties are pointing fingers. The camera is a witness that never lies.  Stop Paying More Than You Need To FullVUE doesn’t just protect your costs — it protects your peace of mind. Stop worrying about unexpected repairs, unplanned downtime, and unwelcome surprises.  In fact, you might even see reduced insurance premiums. One of our customers had lost their insurance, until they installed Brandmotion collision-avoidance systems like the FullVUE Mirror. Depending on the insurer and your situation, Brandmotion’s FullVUE Mirror can help cut your insurance costs to a more manageable rate. Installation time won’t be costly, either. It’s as simple as hanging the mirror, connecting the camera, and mounting the camera. With only three power connections, installation has a short downtime and a quick turnaround. See what you’ve been missing. Latest Post Brandmotion and DENSO Announce Partnership for One Stop Vehicle Integration of Advanced Connectivity Technology Get Better Results in Less Time on Your Connected Vehicle Deployment Brandmotion Expands Its Digital FullVUE® Mirror Lineup to Add Ford Bronco What To Know Before Installing A Jeep Backup Camera

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