5Qs with BMW Asia's Neil Fiorentinos

Neil Fiorentinos has been the Managing Director of BMW Group Asia since March 2011. He oversees both the BMW and MINI brands in the East Asia region. Prior to this, he was General Manager of Sales & Distribution in BMW South Africa. He has been with the BMW Group for about 18 years. 

Q1: What is sustainability?

Neil Fiorentinos: Sustainability represents a commitment to our future generations. It is a responsibility we must share not only to enable them to enjoy what we still have today, but also to take steps to make the world a better place. Crucial to this would be the commitment for sustainability, which requires the efficient usage of the world's energy resources and the minimizing of environmental impact, specifically in CO2 emissions.

Q2: How do you think we can all play a part in contributing to sustainability?

Fiorentinos: Governments, corporations and each individual all have the ability to contribute simply by using energy efficiently. In some cases this is the result of policy decisions. In others, it is about personal choices and actions. This can be as simple as turning off lights during office lunch hours and recycling garbage. Consumers are also empowered by their option to buy and use products only from companies that demonstrate a commitment to sustainability and care for the environment.

Companies must make sustainability a central element of product innovation, development and production. Governments have an obligation to establish policies that demand care for environment and eco awareness, as well as educating and incentivising consumers with respect to choosing products that are energy-efficient and proven to have lower CO2 emissions.

Singapore's government, for example, will be implementing a taxation incentive policy encouraging consumers to buy cars that have lower CO2 emission levels.

Q3: What sort of sustainability effort can be made pertaining to transportation?

Fiorentinos: There are two levels of sustainability effort that can be done for transportation. Firstly, all individual mobility should ideally have high fuel efficiency and low CO2 emissions. This is especially important so as to reduce harm to the environment. Concurrently, the government should also consider implementing a tax system that treats all mobility fairly--comprising new and currently driven vehicles--based on each gramme of CO2 emitted. By doing so, drivers will then become more conscious of the environment because it now ties directly to their wallet.

Secondly, the concept of car-pooling through car-sharing schemes should be encouraged because not only does it share the same principle of public transport, it further enables people to enjoy the comfort of individual mobility to a significant extent.

Q4: What about the car industry, how can it specifically contribute to sustainability?

Fiorentinos: Car companies should explore the building of more fuel-efficient cars with lesser CO2 emissions. The entire manufacturing process chain from product innovation and development to production can also be made more energy-efficient, such as using clean, renewable energy sources. Apart from building more efficient cars, car companies can also consider launching new business models such as car-sharing schemes that can contribute to greater sustainability.

Q5: What are some of the notable sustainability initiatives at BMW?

Fiorentinos: Established since the early 1990s, the "Efficient Dynamics" philosophy of enhancing power without compromising on fuel efficiency and CO2 emissions has been the foundation of BMW Group's design, manufacturing and production processes.

Its power savings are remarkable as evidenced by a 2008 study, which showed that 700,000 vehicles with Efficient Dynamics features were able to save around 150 million litres of fuel and up to 373,000 tonnes of CO2 emissions. This amount of fuel saved, if transformed into electric energy, would be large enough to cover the demand of 780,000 people for an entire year. To date, more than 3 million cars are equipped with Efficient Dynamics technology.

The next big leap forward would be the arrival of "BMW i cars", which will be built for electro-mobility using innovative materials such as carbon fiber and aluminum--to minimise weight and maximise recyclability. The production process will be engineered to achieve high-energy efficiency and environmental-friendliness. The assembly plant will be powered by wind energy, while a hydro-power generator supplies energy for the carbon fiber plant.

Apart from building highly efficient cars, we're also developing a range of services to meet the growing need for flexible mobility solutions in urban areas. This is why we've launched DriveNow, a premium car sharing programme that is currently available in key cities of Germany (such as Munich and Berlin) and most recently in San Francisco as well. Fully-electric BMW ActiveE cars have been deployed for this service to ensure low levels of CO2 emissions and greater efficiency.

Our efforts have not gone unrecognised, as the BMW Group has most recently been named the world's most sustainable automotive company for the eighth consecutive year in the ranking for the Dow Jones Sustainability Indexes (DJSI).