TELEMATICS SUMMITS IN LATIN AMERICA: KEY INSIGHTS FOR YOUR BUSINESS GROWTH

Over the past years, Telematics Summits organised by Teltonika have brought together industry experts, business partners, and clients from around the world to discuss the latest developments in telematics. Beyond IoT technologies, the greatest value comes from face-to-face conversations that strengthen partnerships and deepen understanding of the issues businesses face across different markets.

The series of events in Latin America – including summits in Mexico, Chile, Colombia, and Peru – highlighted the region’s unique challenges and the ways how telematics can help address them.

STOLEN VEHICLE RECOVERY – A NEVER-ENDING STORY

While every Telematics Summit brings new trends and opportunities, one topic remains consistently relevant and critical for fleet management in Latin America – stolen vehicle recovery.

“Vehicle theft has been one of the key challenges raised by our business partners since the very first gatherings back in 2019. Over the years, Teltonika has introduced various device features to help mitigate this issue, and today we continue doing it at a much more advanced level,” says Ignas Rožukas, head of Central America sales region.

Now, we offer a wide range of features and functionalities designed to significantly reduce the risk of vehicle theft, including GPS and GMS jamming detection. While established features such as towing and unplug detection remain widely used, backup tracking functionality has been introduced as an additional layer of security.

Most importantly, during the recent Telematics Summits in Latin America, we introduced dead reckoning and demonstrated its value in vehicle theft prevention scenarios. This technology ensures continuous track even if GPS is jammed, allowing faster and more reliable stolen vehicle recovery.

THE GROWING DEMAND FOR DATA

In addition to the ongoing challenges, new market niches also emerge. E-mobility and the use of CAN data were among the most discussed topics during the summits in Latin America.

“That is not a coincidence,” says Gabriela Maria Rodriguez Calix, head of the South America sales region. “We are already seeing millions of scooters deployed in large cities across Latin America, which clearly shows how quickly this new mobility segment is scaling. The growth is also reflected in supporting ecosystems, with charging service providers, maintenance partners, and IoT tracking solution providers expanding alongside the fleets. GPS-enabled fleet management systems are now commonly used to monitor scooter distribution, battery health, and usage patterns in real time, helping operators optimise repositioning and reduce downtime.”

It is not only about two-wheelers. Chile has committed to reducing CO₂ emissions by 45% before 2030. At the same time, the number of electric buses across 32 Latin American cities is expected to increase more than sevenfold by 2030, representing an investment opportunity exceeding USD 11.3 billion. Brazil, Colombia, Chile, and Mexico are expected to be the key growth markets in the coming years.

The growth of electrification requires telematics solutions that can provide real-time visibility, helping prevent theft, optimise fleet operations, monitor battery and vehicle health, and ensure regulatory compliance.

Fleets managers that still rely on internal combustion engines also increasingly focus on improving efficiency and avoiding unnecessary costs. This is where CAN data solutions demonstrate their value, enabling operators to turn vehicle data into measurable savings, according to Teltonika’s estimates based on internal research, client feedback, and industry data:

• Driver behaviour monitoring improves fuel efficiency by 10–25%

• Fuel analytics save ~USD 30–270 per vehicle monthly

• Predictive maintenance reduces costs by USD 450-1,800 per incident

Remarkably, a full CAN data package with individualised reporting can reduce fleet operating costs by 10–20%, regardless of whether the fleet is electric or fuel-powered.

LOOKING AHEAD WITH ASSET TRACKING CAPABILITIES

Telematics Summits hosted by Teltonika serve as a lively platform to discuss emerging market trends and identify new business opportunities that can further expand the local ecosystem.

In Latin America, there is strong potential in asset tracking solutions. In the region, “assets” are not limited to physical equipment; they also include people and, in some cases, livestock.

This opens ground for such use cases as workforce management, people tracking, student monitoring in schools, and elderly care solutions, where real-time visibility and rapid response capabilities are essential. Livestock tracking is another fast-developing niche to support farmers and agricultural businesses in improving animal safety, location visibility, and operational efficiency.

Overall, the Latin American market is moving toward more versatile, user-friendly, and scalable telematics solutions that extend beyond traditional fleet management into broader safety and asset intelligence applications.

The next step is the expansion into indoor tracking solutions. Such technologies as Wirepas Mesh ensure reliable visibility in environments where GPS coverage is limited or unavailable. This topic will be a key focus at our upcoming Telematics Summits in Latin America, planned for the second half of 2026.

We look forward to sharing knowledge, exchanging ideas, and keep the conversations going at our events!