In a historical phase characterized by strong geopolitical tensions and high market volatility, the automotive sector operates in a complex and ever-changing landscape. Understanding the macroeconomic dynamics that influence the global economy is now essential to correctly interpret ongoing transformations and guide strategic decisions. Brunello Rosa, a internationally renowned macroeconomist, will offer an accredited and accessible perspective on the state of global markets, analyzing the main trends, their origins, and their potential impacts in both the short and long term.

Continuing the deep dive into the European context, Jürgen Hasler from ZDK will outline an articulated overview of the automotive market starting from the German point of view, addressing key topics such as registration trends, price evolution, labor rates, and financing models. He will then extend the analysis to cross-cutting issues such as digitalization, sustainability, and business management.

To conclude the session, the awards ceremony of EARS – European Automotive Retailer Satisfaction, the second edition of the index that analyzes the level of satisfaction of European dealers with their brands. A moment that will provide a concrete snapshot of the relational dynamics between OEMs and the dealership network, highlighting critical factors, expectations, and balances.

In a sector undergoing one of the fastest and most profound transformations in its history – cultural, technological, and competitive – leading a business no longer means focusing exclusively on sales and revenue. Today, identity is what makes the difference. A clear and consistent identity transforms the brand into a strategic compass, capable of guiding vision, values, and decisions over time.

The dealer’s brand takes shape through people, services, local roots, partnerships, and positioning choices. It is strengthened every day through the concrete experience lived by the customer, both online and offline. It is in the consistency between who you are, what you do, and how you communicate it that a solid reputation is built, destined to translate into a lasting competitive advantage.

This is the meaning of Lead With Your Brand , the fil rouge of this edition, which Quintegia will explore by offering interpretative keys and analytical tools to provide direction, coherence, and value to dealers’ future choices.

Following this, Alessandro Lazzeri from Findomestic , building on this theme, will present the evidence emerging from the relationship between consumer and dealer, offering a concrete perspective on the dynamics of trust and engagement.

Among the values that companies can no longer do without, sustainability now plays a central role. In this context, RESET analyzes dealers’ level of awareness regarding ESG factors and their ability to communicate them effectively as a distinctive element of competitive positioning. An initiative that demonstrates how clarity of identity, credibility, and the ability to communicate one’s role within the local community can strengthen brand value, setting the dealer apart in an increasingly competitive and homogeneous market.

The session will conclude with an interview with Andrea Carlucci from Toyota Motor Europe , to explore how an automotive manufacturer is addressing market dynamics and the challenges of change at a European level.

The entry of numerous new brands, particularly Asian ones, is redefining the balance of the European market and the portfolio choices of dealers. The coexistence of legacy brands, new brands, and newcomers introduces new complexities in terms of investments, positioning, customer perception, and economic sustainability.

The session will provide concrete criteria and tools to assess the compatibility between brands and turn the growing variety of offerings into a long-term competitive advantage. Quintegia will present the main insights from the New Brand Observatory and the New Brand Deep Dive, offering an updated view of the strategies, industrial strength, distribution models, and customer expectations of new-generation brands. The content will be enriched by a new framework dedicated to the compatibility between new brands and legacy brands, which integrates key variables such as required investments, range overlaps, perceived positioning, and consistency with the dealer's identity.

The session will continue with an interview with Francesco Calcara from Hyundai and Genesis, who will bring to the stage a discussion between two complementary trajectories: a well-established brand undergoing significant evolution and a premium newcomer that is redefining service and customer experience standards.

Generation Z is already entering the automotive market today as both customers and workforce. Grown up in a context of economic instability, technological acceleration, and social change, it is a generation that brings values and expectations that challenge established models of consumption, customer–brand relationships, and work organization. The session explores, with the support of Quintegia's data, how Gen Z is redefining mobility, cars usage patterns, decision-making logic, and the meaning attributed to brands. Authenticity, transparency, social impact, sustainability, and consistency between promise and behavior become central criteria for building trust and driving purchasing decisions, with direct implications for communication, customer experience, and retail.

On the employment front, Generation Z is changing expectations around companies, leadership, collaboration methods, and the attractiveness of the automotive sector as a professional environment. This is a crucial issue for dealers and OEMs who are called upon to compete for talent in an increasingly mobile and selective job market. The contribution of Joeri Van den Bergh, Future Consumer Expert, will therefore provide an analysis based on international data and research, translating cultural and behavioral trends into concrete implications for brands and organizations. A presentation designed to help the audience overcome generational stereotypes and understand how to integrate the expectations of this generation into marketing, retail, and people management strategies.

A program designed to understand this new generation not as the “target of the future,” but as an actor already capable of shaping the market, the job environment, and the evolution of the automotive sector.

Innovation has always been at the heart of Quintegia's vision, serving as a lever to offer the automotive community new perspectives and solutions capable of anticipating change. The Startup Generation Award returns, featuring startups in the Automotive Dealer Day Exhibition Area presenting their solutions on the Automotive Dealer Day stage in a brief pitch session designed to assess relevance, applicability, and potential impact on the business of OEMs, dealers, and the supply chain. The audience will vote for the most relevant solutions, determining the competition winner and rewarding the projects capable of generating tangible value for the sector.

The used car market is no longer just a niche segment: today it has evolved into an ecosystem that affects margins, brand positioning, accessibility to mobility, and the sustainability of business models for OEMs and dealers. In this session, we analyze the forces that are changing the second-hand market in Europe: the aging of the vehicle fleet, the centrality of cross-border flows, the impact of the technological transition on residual value, the growth of used EVs, and vehicle second-life strategies.

The analysis prepared by Quintegia will provide a strategic perspective on the role of used cars within the automotive business: second-hand becomes a key factor for managing the customer lifecycle, trust and the economic balance of networks, especially when volumes and profitability of new vehicles are under pressure.

Jamil Nur from Joint Research Centre will follow with the most up-to-date European overview based on the European Commission's study: aging of the fleet, extra-EU exports, and implications for stock availability, prices, and competitiveness among countries.

A session designed to provide a clear view, solid data, and practical tools, helping dealers and brands interpret a rapidly changing market: the essential foundation to "lead with your brand" in the used car sector, which is no longer just a segment but an ever-evolving ecosystem.

Artificial intelligence is redefining managerial work: it changes how decisions are made, how time is allocated, and how organizations create value. For OEMs and dealers, AI becomes an accelerator of efficiency, decision quality, and leadership in a more complex and data-driven environment. The session explores how adopting AI can free management from repetitive, low-value tasks, creating room for strategy, people development, and market engagement; this requires new skills and clear governance of technological adoption.

Antonio Pescapè from University of Naples Federico II will open the session with evidence and case studies, detailing how to integrate AI into everyday management workflows with “plug-and-play” processes that enhance productivity, clarity, and decision-making quality. This will be followed by a discussion with three OEM managers on required skills, internal resistance, impacts on decision-making models, and the manager's role in increasingly data-driven organizations.

The session concludes with the Manager of the Year 2026 award by InterAutoNews, a recognition dedicated to managerial figures who have distinguished themselves for their ability to drive change, innovate organizational models, and generate value in the automotive sector.

In a context of operational complexity and margin pressure, the company's state of "Strategic Future Readiness" becomes a decisive factor for growing sustainably. It's no longer just about monitoring the actual results; what's needed is a set of indicators that helps anticipate critical issues and guide managerial priorities. This special session is designed for dealers who want to move from control to business governance, with relevant KPIs, reliable benchmarks, and a control system that provides an integrated view.

Alberto Bet from Quintegia leads a practical, action-oriented session, showing how to build useful indicator dashboards, correctly interpret the numbers, and turn data into decisions. Sales, after-sales, used vehicles, cost structure, working capital, and organization will be viewed as interconnected elements to be monitored consistently. A practical and interactive session designed to strengthen managerial skills, decision-making abilities, and dealer business control.

The automotive supply chain is undergoing a structural change that is redefining the relationship between OEMs, distribution networks, and brands. Business concentration, the entry of new players, and competitive pressure are pushing OEMs and dealers to innovate operational models and collaboration rules. The session analyzes how industrial dynamics, brand strategies, and governance structures are changing supply chain balances and what this means for those who manufacture, distribute, and represent brands in Europe.

Quintegia opens with data and benchmarks on network consolidation, the evolution of distribution models, the rebalancing of negotiating power, and new expectations regarding investments, skills, and performance.

Cristina Scocchia from Illycaffè will bring a managerial perspective on the revival and transformation of established brands. Through her experience leading international organizations, key elements necessary to redefine a brand's identity, innovate business models, and build effective collaboration with the network, even in highly disruptive contexts, will be explored.

The session concludes with the DealerSTAT 2026 awards, recognizing dealers and networks that have stood out for the quality of their relationship with the OEM, adaptability, and entrepreneurial vision. It is a moment that celebrates not only results but also the ability to manage change in a structured and sustainable way.

A session designed to provide reading tools, managerial inspiration, and concrete benchmarks, helping OEMs and dealers navigate a fragmented but opportunity-rich market, and to guide the evolution of the supply chain with awareness and leadership, fully in the spirit of "lead with your brand".

When product, price, and communication converge, the in-store experience becomes a decisive factor in differentiation. The point of sale is no longer just the place of transaction: it builds brand perception, trust, and relationship quality. The session explores how the in-store experience — both physical and digital — is shaping the future of automotive retail, combining scientific evidence, brand cases, and international insights.

At the opening, Quintegia presents a study based on neuroscientific methodologies that objectively measure the impact of the in-store experience on brand perception. Through BARTT – Brand Association Reaction Time Task, it will be highlighted how layout, interactions, sales rituals, and the quality of the environment trigger positive or negative implicit associations, often invisible to traditional metrics but decisive in customer choices.

The session will continue with an interview with Andre Marcante from Renault Group, who will share the strategic direction and evolution of the customer experience that, especially in recent years, has been guiding the choices and positioning of the French group.

To conclude, the awards ceremony of the Automotive Digital Marketing Award contest. The initiative by AutoScout24 in collaboration with Quintegia recognizes and rewards the best managers and marketing and communication professionals from dealerships and retailers.

A session designed to provide insights, vision, and inspiration, showing how the retail experience is today a key lever for brand equity and competitiveness for all players in the sector.

Digital payments, embedded finance, and open banking are changing the buying experience and processes in automotive retail. We're not just talking about new payment methods: the financial infrastructure that supports conversion, trust, customer relationships, and operational efficiency is evolving.

Laura Grassi from Politecnico di Milano, talks about this theme, providing a clear map of the new digital payments landscape. A presentation designed to clarify how consumer expectations are changing and what opportunities and risks are emerging for OEMs and dealers in the European context.

Markos Zachariadis from the University of Manchester, will then provide an international comparative lecture, analyzing the evolution of regulation, payment infrastructures, and open finance models in the UK, the United States, and Asia. This is a useful presentation for anticipating the trajectories of the global market and understanding which models are likely to have an impact in Italy and Europe as well.

A session designed to understand how digital payments can evolve from a support function to a strategic element to enhance customer experience, trust, and business growth.

The energy transition represents a structural transformation that goes beyond the technological dimension, affecting geopolitics, supply chains, industrial policies, and automotive business models. For OEMs and dealers, understanding its dynamics means anticipating risks, opportunities, and strategic choices that will influence the market in the coming years.

It is therefore essential to have an integrated understanding of the new global energy balances and their impacts on European mobility, connecting the macro scenario with operational implications for networks. Greta Cristini, a journalist specialized in geopolitics, will provide a geopolitical analysis for the next 3–5 years: critical raw materials, new energy dependencies, international tensions, and direct consequences for the automotive industry and supply chain stability.

A session designed to provide a clear and applicable framework: from the geopolitics of energy to the daily operational choices of OEMs and dealers, to interpret the transition not just as a constraint, but as a strategic area for repositioning and value creation.

After an initial phase of intense media exposure and widespread distribution, artificial intelligence and robotics are now entering a phase of greater maturity. From emerging technologies, they are becoming concrete tools to improve productivity, quality, and sustainability across the entire automotive supply chain, from industry to retail. The session proposes a pathway that connects strategic vision with operational application, showing how to bring technological innovation into organizations in a realistic, measurable, and sustainable way. An approach designed to reduce the gap between strategy and execution and to support OEMs and dealers in understanding where — and how — AI and automation can generate real value.

With a constant focus on innovation, the session will open with the Startup Generation Award, which will recognize the startup that stands out the most for impact, vision, and application potential, according to the judgment of the public and experts.

Following this, Fabio Moioli, one of Italy's most authoritative experts in artificial intelligence at an international level, will delve into how to integrate AI into business processes sustainably. His talk will focus on redesigning operational flows and building skills, offering a pragmatic contribution based on roadmaps, priorities, and concrete use cases, designed for managers and entrepreneurs.

The final focus on human–machine collaboration will allow for an exploration of how physical automation and collaborative robotics are gradually entering mobility operational contexts. Through case studies and evolutionary scenarios, it will be shown how these technologies can improve efficiency, safety, and customer experience, surpassing the traditional imagination associated with robotics.

A session designed to provide interpretive tools, concrete examples, and operational inspiration, with a key message: AI is no longer a project to merely observe, but an already active development vector, essential for building skills, recognition, and competitive advantage in the medium to long term.

Saturated channels and declining average advertising performance shift the value from the lead to the relationship. CRM tools and loyalty programs have become strategic elements on which marketing must focus to strengthen the brand, increase retention, and support long-term profitability, particularly in the post-sales phase.

The session will analyze how the advanced activation of customer data and continuous contact can offset the decline in performance of traditional media, transforming the customer relationship into a stable value driver. This change requires new integration approaches between marketing, sales, and after-sales, as well as more mature data governance. Through strategic insights and operational experiences, the session demonstrates how CRM and loyalty programs can become high-impact investment areas, capable of improving engagement, loyalty, and customer value throughout the entire lifecycle. The focus will be on activation models, relevant metrics, and the ability to make the return of the relationship measurable.

Elisabetta Bruno will provide a perspective focused on models, indicators, and activation processes, highlighting how the most mature organizations are already rethinking roles, responsibilities, and objectives to move from loosely structured campaigns to genuine, ongoing, and meaningful relationships throughout the entire customer journey.

A session designed for those who want to build lasting value through data, relationships, and trust, in line with a market increasingly focused on customer lifetime value.