The landscape of car ownership has changed considerably over the years, including in the United Arab Emirates.
This is the reason why ‘future-proofing’ is something that needs to be considered by everyone in the automobile industry, from dealers to manufacturers to car insurance companies.
The auto industry was responsible for the second industrial revolution.
The infrastructure of cities, including those in the UAE, was built with car travel as a major priority, as motor vehicles became a necessity for commuters rather than a status symbol.
Today, owning a car is seen as less important as it was thanks to people moving to different cities or even countries and the availability of hire vehicles making ownership seem unnecessary to many.
Even car owners hardly use their vehicles today, leaving their cars at home or in garages at their workplace.
Businesses large and small are beginning to tap into this opportunity, albeit in a fragmented and still young new market.
There are a number of ways that businesses are able to stay ahead of the changing times.
Tech and services company Bosch says that advanced driver assistance systems are growing in popularity.
Features popular with new buyers include the likes of automatic lane-keeping support, drowsiness detection and remote parking.
Before driverless vehicles can become the norm, features have to be able to make use of 5G and AI power in order to work quickly enough to ensure passenger safety.
However, these systems also need to have sufficient security and still allow the human driver to be able to easily and quickly override them if necessary.
The Global Autonomous and Urban Mobility Council has already been formed by the World Economic Forum.
The aim of the Council is to overlook and support autonomous vehicle development.
Car insurance providers all over the world are focusing a lot of their attention on catering to the fleet market.
Within zero-sum auto insurance markets such as the UAE, competition is becoming increasingly fierce.
Although businesses with larger fleets are beginning to appear in the country, at the moment there are very few of them.
In regard to start-ups, car insurance providers also need to have an understanding of the economics behind them to be able to offer higher value at lower costs.
Insurance can also be viewed in other ways in order to remain competitive.
For instance, car insurance coverage based upon the amount of distance that vehicles are driven have started to become popular all across the globe, and Beema recently introduced the first such policy to the UAE.
With autonomous driving seemingly here to stay and likely to become ubiquitous in the coming years, it remains to be seen whether that adoption will be supported or inhibited by car insurance providers.
Regardless of the future, in the present, car insurance remains a legal obligation for anyone who drives in the UAE.
Car insurance helps to protect against costs associated with vehicle theft and damages caused by motor accidents.