Update on Mobileye

Mobileye is stepping up its focus on the retail side of its business and launching a training program for installers.

Each of four Mobileye distributors–A&E Distributing, Mid-State Distributing, Vickers AV and Specialty Marketing– will host a Mobileye 6 training session this year starting with Specialty Marketing on June 4 and 5.

For the last several years, the company has devoted much of its aftermarket resources to fleet sales rather than retail sales.  But it is starting to shift its focus to retail.

“We’re in the beginning stages of implementing a new program that we think will change our retail business and how it’s perceived,” said Steven Wenger, Business Development Manager.

The company offers the Mobileye 6 Series–a crash warning device that also provides lane departure warning, distance monitoring to the car ahead and pedestrian/cyclist warnings.

In addition to the new training program, Mobileye said it is looking at other ways to improve its retail sales.  Vanya Banjac, Marketing Manager told us in an interview, “Mobileye is putting a bigger emphasis on consumers in 2019. The distribution for that will be evolving,” she said, without providing details.

Retailers who participate in the new training sessions may be certified as a Mobileye installer, and certification is required to sell the product.

In the past, Mobileye offered an online training course that required about an hour and a half to complete.  But the training proved insufficient; technicians still took too long to finish an install, so the retail shop lost money and then avoided selling the product.

Mobileye is now offering an in-person day-and-a-half training program. “We believe this will solve many of those challenges. It will certainly make the installer much more confident in doing the installation and it will cut down bay time and profits will go up.  We think it will have a snowball effect that will be a positive,” said Wenger.

Mobileye said it also improved its installation software last year.

Mobileye camera systems are used by more than 25 car makers.  But that leaves room for providing safety warning systems in older cars, said Banjac.

Fleet sales are about 10 times greater than retail consumer sales of Mobileye safety systems, according to Wenger,

Mobileye, now owned by Intel, is looking at how to better reach the everyday drivers of older cars, it said.