The decision-making process of buying a car is complicated especially when the industry is brimming with a plethora of options in almost every segment. With the technological advancements in AR and VR, immersive technologies are driving the automotive industry towards the future in an affordable and scalable way.
Digital Transformation has entirely changed the marketing and retailing strategies from mass-oriented to a targeted and personalized experience. Today, technology has leveraged the customers to customise the interior of their next car while sitting in the living room. Such is the prowess of Augmented and Virtual Reality in the automotive sector. Let’s have a look at some of the most profound ways in which AR/VR is impacting the automotive industry and how they contribute to defining the future of the automotive ecosystem.
OEMs making the most of VR
As technology intrudes deep into the roots of the industry, the customer base evolves as it now has more access to data and information. This leads to higher and complex customer expectations. OEMs are leveraging this changing dynamic by offering a more customised and hence, personalised experience to the buyers.
An immersive virtual reality experience plays a crucial role for the automotive brands to strike the right chord with the potential and the existing customer as well. It helps the stakeholders to simplify purchasing decisions and create strong brand loyalty. With the aid of immersive technologies like AR and VR, automotive OEMs are delivering the look and feel of the final product by providing a more realistic comparison than ever before.
Some of the most prominent players like BMW, Infinity and many more have started deploying AR/VR on a large scale to elevate the customer experience. They are offering services such as virtual reality showroom, customised AR experiences, simulated virtual test drives and beyond.
The Virtual Reality Showroom experience
As mentioned before, the car buying process is becoming more and more cumbersome and complex. Virtual reality comes into play for mitigating these challenges in the modern-day automotive ecosystem. Automotive brands are providing the customers with features like 3D car configurator that lets them choose different colours, customize seats and a host of other things before they zero down to the final product.
This not only alleviates the car buying journey but also increases efficiency for the service providers. Maintaining a big showroom with a large variety of models is expensive as it not only increases overhead costs, but the unsold vehicles also depreciate over time. Less popular vehicles and unpopular deals can incur losses to the dealers. VR is instrumental in resolving these challenges and boosting the efficiency for the dealers and the OEMs at large.
Virtual Test Driving
A virtual dealership is incomplete without the virtual test drive and fortunately, VR is now being implemented at large for the ultimate user experience. When it is difficult to step out and get accustomed to the driving experience of a vehicle, immersive technology is delivering it right at the comfort of your couch.
Technological advancements have made so much progress that customers can experience and analyse the exact characteristics of the vehicle’s behaviour while pushing it to the limits. Brands like Infinity have come up with interactive 360 videos to provide a completely realistic experience to the customers.
Self-servicing through AR
Augmented Reality’s ability to interact with the real world through computer-generated graphics makes it a future-ready technology for the entire automotive ecosystem.
One key application is self-servicing. For small malfunctions and in situations where a mechanic is inaccessible, AR helps the users to identify and take the corrective measures for carrying out the repair and maintenance tasks on their vehicles. From examining the wrongly connected wires under the hood, to determining the damaged part after a crash, AR is pushing the envelope further and is redefining automotive ownership experience.
Conclusion
The implementation of immersive technology is still in the primitive phase in the automotive industry but it is the key to the future of mobility where every vehicle on the road would be connected and have autonomous characteristics. In today’s scenario also, AR/VR is easing the car buying journey of the customer and boosting the efficiency for the other stakeholders while making the entire experience more personalised.
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Automotive speculators working with Dealers, Lease, and Aftermarket groups to solve their digital encounters. We gather a lot of research and industry standpoint from all over the cosmos of Automotive and Technology Innovation.