Beyond the Car - a FISITA podcast

Braking point: How brake tech shapes the future of mobility - feat. Brembo and IDIADA

In the complex world of automotive technology, there’s so much more to stopping than brakes—and there’s so much more to brakes than stopping.  In this episode of FISITA's Beyond the Car Podcast, we're talking about the evolution of brake technology, from a practical and necessary safety device, to an intelligent system that's become central to the successful implementation of next-generation vehicle technology. Olivier Coppin, Vice President of Innovation at Brembo, and Fabio Squadrani, Senior Manager, Brake Technology at Applus+IDIADA, discuss advances in brake and chassis technology, the influence of megatrends such as electrification, software defined vehicle, artificial intelligence, and automation, as well as the ongoing corner module conundrum: will it ever happen? Guests Olivier Coppin - VP Innovation, Brembo LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/in/olivier-coppin-innovation-electrification] Fabio Squadrani - Senior Manager, Braking Systems at Applus+ IDIADA LinkedIn [http://linkedin.com/in/fabiosquadrani] More information about the FISITA Advanced Chassis Technology Expert Group: Expert Group – Advanced Chassis Technology – FISITA [https://fisita.com/community/expert-groups/advanced-chassis-technology/] Get in touch! [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2536532/fan_mail/new] Follow FISITA's 'Beyond the Car' podcast on LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/fisita-beyond-the-car-podcast/] - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -  You can listen to FISITA's 'Beyond the Car' podcast wherever you get your podcasts. For more information about FISITA, head to FISITA.com - and to learn more about the 'Beyond the Car' podcast, you can contact us at info@fisita.com. Thank you to Martyn Strong for production.

Race to road: Why automakers invest in motorsport - feat. Pascal Vasselon, Toyota Racing

“Win on Sunday, sell on Monday” – so goes the motorsport-related marketing mantra, coined to indicate that racing success can help move road cars off dealership forecourts. The pinnacle of automotive engineering, motorsport fuels rapid technology development, with proven technology transfers from race to road. What an automaker does at the track may seem a world away from anything in mainstream automotive, but the real power of motorsport is that teams are not constrained in the way their colleagues are in the mainstream automotive industry. They can push boundaries harder, fail faster, and develop solutions quicker - solutions that can then be fed back into passenger car development. In this episode of FISITA’s Beyond the Car podcast, we explore the wider reasons automakers invest in motorsport with Pascal Vasselon, Vice President of Toyota Racing. Connect with Pascal on LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/in/pascal-vasselon-97b393216/]. Learn more about Toyota Racing here [https://toyota-racing.com/]. Get in touch! [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2536532/fan_mail/new] Follow FISITA's 'Beyond the Car' podcast on LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/fisita-beyond-the-car-podcast/] - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -  You can listen to FISITA's 'Beyond the Car' podcast wherever you get your podcasts. For more information about FISITA, head to FISITA.com - and to learn more about the 'Beyond the Car' podcast, you can contact us at info@fisita.com. Thank you to Martyn Strong for production.

Fork in the road - US, EU, China auto policy analysis

Feat. Peter Sigal, Automotive News Europe; Sam Abuelsamid, Telemetry; Bill Russo, Automobility Ltd.    In 2025, significant changes in automotive policy and strategy were introduced in the US, the EU, and China, with considerable implications for global automakers, suppliers, and consumers. In this episode of FISITA's Beyond the Car podcast, we bring together industry experts to look at the key points in each region's automotive priorities, and what they mean for auto industry stakeholders.  * Peter Sigal is News Editor and Correspondent at Automotive News Europe * Sam Abuelsamid is VP Market Research and heads up Telemetry Insights' Transportation and Mobility research and advisory practice in Detroit * Bill Russo is Shanghai-based Founder and CEO of strategy and investment advisory firm Automobility Limited Get in touch! [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2536532/fan_mail/new] Follow FISITA's 'Beyond the Car' podcast on LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/fisita-beyond-the-car-podcast/] - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -  You can listen to FISITA's 'Beyond the Car' podcast wherever you get your podcasts. For more information about FISITA, head to FISITA.com - and to learn more about the 'Beyond the Car' podcast, you can contact us at info@fisita.com. Thank you to Martyn Strong for production.

Driving hands-free across America - feat. Alex Roy

How far can a vehicle drive itself without human intervention? In this episode of FISITA's Beyond the Car podcast, we talk about just that: long-distance, hands-free driving. Motivated by decades of record-breaking road trip experience and enthusiasm, and inspired by the idea of driving from west coast to east coast with zero human intervention, our guest on this episode joins us to talk about his recent trip from Los Angeles to New York City in a Tesla in Full Self-Drive mode. As you'll hear, Alex Roy is a huge fan of human driving, and of automated vehicle technology. He's also very competitive, curious, analytical, and methodical - all the things you need to be to sit in a car that drives itself 3,081 miles from Redondo Beach in LA to midtown Manhattan in NYC - that’s 4,958km, in a time of 58 hours and 22 minutes, all without human intervention. We discuss the background to the challenge and the history of coast to coast driving, and Alex tells some great stories from the trip he completed in January 2026. He also shares valuable insight into automated driving, having advised at a strategic level right at the top of an AV company, namely Argo AI, and from the perspective of a regular automated vehicle user. Connect with Alex Roy New Industry Venture Capital: NIVC [https://www.nivc.us/] LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/alexroy [https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexroy] Get in touch! [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2536532/fan_mail/new] Follow FISITA's 'Beyond the Car' podcast on LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/fisita-beyond-the-car-podcast/] - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -  You can listen to FISITA's 'Beyond the Car' podcast wherever you get your podcasts. For more information about FISITA, head to FISITA.com - and to learn more about the 'Beyond the Car' podcast, you can contact us at info@fisita.com. Thank you to Martyn Strong for production.

Tearing cars apart (so yours can be better) - feat. Patrick Katenkamp, A2MAC1

Automotive suppliers and vehicle manufacturers have honed their skills to assemble the parts, subsystems, and subassemblies from individual components into the vehicles that we know so well. Follow FISITA's 'Beyond the Car' podcast on LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/fisita-beyond-the-car-podcast/] What they don't know is how many parts their competitors use - how they assemble and join them, how much those parts weigh, and critically, how much they cost. That's where vehicle benchmarking companies come in. They literally take vehicles apart, down to the level of fasteners and fixings - and then they weigh, measure, photograph, scan, and analyse every single part. The resultant cost models provide their customers with invaluable competitor intelligence. In this episode of Beyond the Car, Patrick Katenkamp, CEO of automotive teardown and benchmarking company A2MAC1, shares insight into how a teardown company approaches a vehicle - literally. He explains the teardown process, and the analysis - and what they do with the disassembled vehicle once the work is complete. We talked about: * how contemporary computing power and AI have evolved the company's work since its inception in 1997;  * the trends shaping the automotive industry, vehicle design, and manufacturing - as seen from the inside out; * the role of software and electrification; and * China's influence on the global auto industry. Get in touch! [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2536532/fan_mail/new] Follow FISITA's 'Beyond the Car' podcast on LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/fisita-beyond-the-car-podcast/] - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -  You can listen to FISITA's 'Beyond the Car' podcast wherever you get your podcasts. For more information about FISITA, head to FISITA.com - and to learn more about the 'Beyond the Car' podcast, you can contact us at info@fisita.com. Thank you to Martyn Strong for production.