Category: Automotive

Has the car buying process been corrupted? Will auto dealerships go the way of the dodo? The answer to both those questions is probably not. But the situation could be improved. Despite most people still favouring dealership walk-ins when it comes to buying a new vehicle, it isn’t something consumers like. Research shows that 87% of people dislike the process, with 61% feeling like they’re being taken advantage of.

It’s truths like this that are propelling the industry to adopt a customer-centric approach rather than a product-driven one. The modern consumer is savvy, conducting a lot of their pre-purchase research online. They may not enter the showroom with their mind made up, but they will be aware of the costs and features of many models. But how exactly will the auto retail sector evolve? And how will they achieve the golden goose of consumer loyalty?

 

What consumers want

Changing public opinion on the process could be as easy as changing one thing. Unfortunately, it’s a rather big thing. As many as 72% of people would visit dealerships more if the buying process was improved. It’s just that simple!

According to Auto Trader retailer and consumer products director Karolina Edwards-Smajda, it’s about making the online experience line up with the experience in the dealership.

She said: “As long as customers feel comfortable with pricing and trust the business, we will start to see more of that process handed over to them.”

It’s no surprise since 54% of people would prefer to buy or sell cars online, with some even willing to forego the test drive. So the car showrooms of the future will need to make the transition from online to in-store as easy as possible.

With car configurators easily accessible at home on a mobile device, having systems in place that could effortlessly take that information from their phone would streamline the process. If they do have a particular model in mind that they’ve researched at home, the system could check if it’s in stock.

If you want to draw consumers into your brand, all the information they need should be readily available digitally before they even step in the showroom. If the process is such a nerve-wracking, pressure-filled one, why not alleviate those concerns from the offset?

 

What dealerships need

Of course, consumers aren’t the only ones with modern technology. Dealerships themselves have access to an almost infinite pool of customer data these days. The challenge of the future will be parsing the useful information from the not-so-useful.

The process doesn’t start and end at purchase. There will be a shift towards drawing people into the dealership’s ecosystem, developing a customer experience that covers multiple touch points. Using the wealth of information at their disposal, dealerships will be able to deliver a seamless customer experience that goes from first contact to aftersales. The focus can no longer be on hard upselling but on trust.

It’s critical in a market where the consumer base is going through a generational shift. Millennials will soon make up the bulk of consumers and their approach to car buying will differ from prior generations. In the age of ride-sharing, you might think the Millennial appetite for car ownership was low – not so. They are willing and eager to buy cars. But they do a lot of research online. The upside is, they are fiercely loyal to brands and will chase what they consider to be the best.

That’s why loyalty will be essential for car dealerships going forward. Their target audience will be looking for what’s recommended online, what will light up their social media feed, and what will ultimately cause them the least hassle. Customer-centric truly is the key word here. The auto dealer sector isn’t one that is quick to change, but it better start soon. The world is moving on and it’ll do so with or without them.

At RealtimeUK, we believe there are many CGI elements you can introduce to your showroom to make it as slick and straightforward as possible. If you have a project you would like to discuss, get in touch with me at [email protected].

The automotive industry is at an interesting point. Consumers are in the literal and figurative driving seat; their habits are shaping the car production process from initial concept through to retail purchase. As EY put it, we’re heading towards a customer-centric world.

 

It affects the technology put into our vehicles. A more environmentally-conscious world will want eco-friendly, electric vehicles. A 24/7, ever-connected lifestyle demands cars that are digitally capable. And upcoming generations, who have it all in the palm of their hands, will want a simplified, mobile buying experience. How will these trends evolve in the future and what potential technology could we see rise to the top in the automotive industry in the years to come?

 

Better tech

While consumers want cars that are good for the environment, they will always put their own convenience first. The power of the engine isn’t as important to people as the car’s safety, phone connectivity, space, or comfort. What they would love, according to Deloitte, is a car that keeps them up to date on traffic or the state of their car.

 

This could manifest in future cars as an AR dashboard. All relevant information would be displayed on the windscreen, Minority Report style. It’s been a concept in the works since at least 2012 when Mercedes-Benz showed the tech off at CES.

 

Cars connecting to mobile devices isn’t new, but there’s definitely room for further integration. Using AI and machine learning, predictive vehicle technology can automate the setting up process and automatically adjust application preferences based on the driver. It can also be used to predict collisions and when the vehicle needs maintaining.

 

All of this sounds great, except consumers aren’t necessarily willing to pay for it. Whether it’s an issue with the price or the ethical implications of giving an automotive manufacturer your information (especially in the case of biometric enhancements), people are reluctant to cough up the cash. But are they the only people buying cars?

 

The Uber effect

Could we see a trend where car purchases come less from everyday consumers and more from ride-sharing businesses? In 2015, Marc Winterhoff predicted that the rise of autonomous drive vehicles would see mass market brands fall behind. In his vision, the market would be split in two: those cars and vehicles that offer a premium experience.

 

Given that worldwide car sales are expected to hit almost 80 million this year, we can’t quite see Marc’s idea coming true anytime soon. But you can’t deny the rise of ride-sharing apps like Uber or Lyft which might affect overall car sales. The “Uber effect” is more likely to hit more metropolitan areas where owning a car is seen as a hassle. It isn’t necessarily about the environment – when ride-sharing was banned in Austin, Texas, 45% of people went back to using their own cars, compared to just 3% who moved to public transit. And with driverless technology, we could see autonomous taxis. Finally, no more pesky human interaction!

 

If we did see a shift towards further ride-sharing, the people buying cars would be doing so from a business standpoint. It would be less about fancy bells and whistles, and more about efficiency and reliability. It could potentially lead to a shorter car lifecycle; app users would want their driver to use a more modern vehicle because of the implied safety upgrades, so drivers would need to change every couple of years.

 

The Millennial Wave

Anyone who predicts the death of traditional car-buying habits is more than likely a sensationalist. The market’s shift is glacial, but – to the sensationalists’ credit – one worth paying attention to. While car sales aren’t likely to tank anytime soon, the generational shift will play its part. What Millennials look for in a car will differ to Baby Boomers, which will need to be kept in mind when designing the vehicles of the future.

 

This will affect auto retailers too. We mentioned it at the start – many are already changing to a customer-centric approach. The car-buying process begins online, so your technology needs to be up to date not just in the car, but on your site too.

 

From VR to AR, at RealtimeUK we push the boundaries of what technology can do for the automotive industry. Bring your vehicles to life with the best car configurators on offer. Reach out to me at [email protected] to talk about your next project.

CGI vs photography is still a fierce debate. One side argues that nothing can replace the way real-life photography captures tangible objects. The other claims that CG looks better than the real thing and photography can’t match its perfection.

Both sides have their merits. There was a time when the debate was digital photography vs traditional photography – similarly, they both had a point, but it was digital that stood out as the best solution. It’s history repeating itself, and, like digital photography, CGI can’t be matched. It can save you a lot of time.

 

Lights, camera, action

We’re not suggesting photography goes the way of the dinosaur, nor are we saying that rendering CGI happens in the blink of an eye. But, in the long-term, CG will save you time and money. Take the simplest scenario: photographing a car. Just the car, a white background, and a DSLR. Hours are spent getting the perfect lighting, multiple shots, different angles. And, at the end of the day, you have your shots. Job done. For CG, modelling alone would take longer.

But, say you get back to your desk, you look over the photos from the shoot. You can’t find the right angle or the trim level of spec of the car needs to be different. You need the car – which you have poured your passion into – to look perfect. Yet now you face the laborious process of rescheduling the shoot and setting everything up again, and, at the end of that, you’re still not guaranteed to be satisfied with the end product. Roads need reclosing, the weather might be awful, you might not be able to get your hands on the car; the list of potential roadblocks is extensive.

With CG, if you want to see it from a specific angle, you just move the car or the virtual camera.

 

The quick approach

Now imagine that scenario, but multiple times over. If the car comes in many colours, trim, and spec levels for example. That’s where else CGI saves you time. you won’t have the time to photograph every possible combination – in fact, it’s impossible. With CGI, these changes can be made instantly. So while the initial creation might take time, it will save you time in the long run.

The same problem presents itself when shooting on location, but includes the added hassle of making sure the product and appropriate people are in the right place. But combine the two scenarios and you have your solution.

Film on location to create your backgrounds and insert the key visuals later on. It allows you to keep a flexible schedule. If the car’s design isn’t ready in time for the shoot, it can be sculpted digitally and change as the real-life car does. The time between conversations is shorter as CGI can react much faster to alterations.

Photography will always have its place in the world. But much like in film and TV, there are times where CGI makes more sense, and the automotive industry is no different. So if you’re worried about time not being on your side, put your mind at ease. Choose the computer.

 

At REALTIME, we have the experience you need to make your next project run fluidly. Take our work with Infiniti, which is an example of what we talked about above. It’s just one of the many projects we’ve brought to life using CGI. If you’re interested in potentially working together, get in touch with me at [email protected].

 

A few words from me on Geneva 2019.

Twenty years ago, amid massive consolidation in the industry (think Premier Automotive Group, the Renault Nissan Alliance and Daimler-Chrysler to name but a few), the general consensus was that there would, before too long, be just five automotive concerns the world over. An American one, a couple of Europeans, a Japanese and then perhaps a Korean one. Its seems at the time journalists had not picked up China on the radar screen back then.

Fast forward to now and this year’s Geneva Show, the underlying trend of electrification was ably supported by a number of new start ups. The barriers to market entry for these new concerns twenty years ago (a major one being the lost-count-of-the-zeros level of investment required to develop a unique powertrain) are simply gone. If you combine that with the latest generation of car buyers being less and less attracted to the traditional brands then you have a perfect revolution taking place before our very eyes:

Twenty years ago, Mate Rimac, founder of Rimac Automobili was still in short trousers but now, his EV Hypercar C_TWO, all 1,914hp and $2m of it and oh-so-close to production was a clear star of the show. Twin brother under the skin and with equal top billing was the Pininfarina Battista; the long-established design house launching its first full car as an EV.

 

Further down the price range but with a still-impressive 396hp was the Polestar 2, follow up to, you guessed it, the Polestar 1. This Tesla Model 3 rival is dripping with crisp Scandinavian Design and, as always with Polestar, housed at the show in a particularly airy whitespace-type lounge.

Not to be outdone by the upstart start-ups, Audi was out in force with the beautifully-resolved E-Tron Sportback.

Even further down the price range was Citroen, resurrecting the ‘Ami’ name for a two-seater EV study for future mobility

So, we’re five cars into the review without even mention of an internal combustion engine. Must be the trend of the show then…

Reassuringly perhaps was Bentley, with the Continental Number 9 Edition by Mulliner, housing the Crewe-built W12 petrol engine. Celebrating Bentley Boy Sir Tim Birkin’s Blower Bentley and including 18 carat gold organ stops, this is perhaps one of the last great internal-combustion-driven Grand Tourers from Crewe, for whom electric power is also just around the corner. I suppose that the CO2 impact of just 100 cars is minimal…

Roughly, roughly (but who’s counting??) at the same point in the pricing chart is Ferrari, showcasing the new and very pretty F8 Tributo. Not to be outdone by its British rival, Its 720PS is now an exact match for the McLaren 720S. Who’d have thought it?

Over on the Aston Martin stand it was difficult not to be impressed by the continuing onslaught of new, beautiful and highly desirable new metal in the forms of the son-of-Valkyrie AM-RB 003 Hypercar (pictured), due on sale in 2021 and the Vanquish Vision Concept; a 2022-ready mid-engined Supercar rival to McLaren, Ferrari and Lamborghini.

Towards the entry-level of the market were two launches of new models with stalwart nameplates; the new Peugeot 208 and the new Renault Clio. The 208’s fairly chunky styling lending the car perhaps more road presence than its predecessor, whereas over at Renault the new Clio’s revolution was apparently on the inside, though, to my eyes, that wasn’t a problem at all. Renault clearly didn’t need to fix what wasn’t broken here.

So, a great show, packed full of significant debuts. Geneva remains resolutely the place to be for the industry, with no sign of that trend abating. I’m sure that there will be a time in the not-too-distant-future when electrification ceases to be a ‘thing’ too and we all stop talking about it. I think that point in time will be sooner than we think…