Automotive Business Magazine – Q2 2026 – Digital edition - Magazine - Page 11
FEATURE
TECHNOLOGY
ADAS elements, too, it's
fantastic.”
Vehicle vanguard:
Wayve self-driving
cars are making
headlines across
the globe
This may simply be a matter of time,
as consumers get used to new features,
just as they do with each new iteration of
mobile phone.
McPhee says: “In the UK we all we
all like our cars, don't we? We all like
something new, generally speaking,
which is why personal contract purchase
(PCP), came to the fore, because it was a
solution that let customers buy a vehicle
at really affordable payment, and they
get into a regular renewal cycle. Our
renewal rate is pretty high, it’s definitely
like phones.”
Of course, the technology conversation
here goes beyond touch-screens and
parking assistance.
McPhee adds: “It’ll be interesting when
autonomous driving hits the roads of
Britain – how many customers actually
want to be in a car with their hands off
the steering wheel, being driven by a
computer?
“But I love the technology in my car,
I love the fact that Apple CarPlay links
and I can link my Spotify account. All the
Cybersecurity
Perhaps one of the biggest
automotive stories last year
was the cyberattack at
JLR. This saw production,
payments to suppliers and
the wholesale of vehicles
grind to a halt for a full
month, raising questions
around the vulnerability
of businesses in a digital
world.
It goes further than this,
though. Modern cars are
connected to the internet,
creating even more risk.
Bodo Philipp, CEO at
MHP Consulting UK, said:
“In general, as technology
within the cars is evolving,
attack and vulnerability is
rising at the same time.
"We’re not talking about
just a simple car anymore,
it’s everything that’s
connected to it. Cars are
connected to backbones
and devices in the car. This
is widening the surface
area for attacks.
“The main risk associated with this is
unauthorised access to systems. It’s not
just one threat – the whole ecosystem is
vulnerable to it. That’s why cybersecurity
comes into play. It’s not something that
you have to singularly shoot at – one
threat or one risk – you have to look endto-end, at the whole ecosystem.”
Last year, it was reported that the
Ministry of Defence (MOD) banned
employees from discussing sensitive
information in – or connecting official
devices to – Chinese cars.
Philipp warns that this is not a
response to a theoretical risk: incidents
have already happened.
He says: “Two years ago, there
was a passive security breach of
the Volkswagen ID fleet. The whole
movement profiles on the navigation
system of the German Government,
including bodyguards, was leaked.
“You can amplify what kind of potential
threat that is. It’s quite evident that there
is a big threat for fleets going forward, →
Q2 2026
AUTOMOTIVE BUSINESS
11
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