Chrysler Portal concept, 2017.
Until not many years ago, the purchase of a car was governed by a procedure we could almost say traditional. The method used was, roughly, virtually identical for all brands in the great majority of markets since decades.
The popularization of the network, and the rise of the networked society, let’s call it society 2.0, has revolutionized this procedure. If before the client was limited to study a few models, usually visiting any dealer of your favorite brands and to browse through some catalogues and magazines, today the client is soaked information, many times first-hand before even thinking of approaching an exhibition to see the vehicle in situ.
, The tools that are available today enable the client even know inside out even the slightest feature of all the models that you want, even before stepping on the dealership. Thanks to all this material, the customer can even configure and view the vehicle at the taste, trying on all the colors, sets of tires and extra equipment that you want, without the need of a seller.
Some brands more and others less, but all already have numerous digital tools to do this, and even in some cases, thanks to the augmented reality to be able to live the experience of knowing all the ins and outs of your new vehicle without the necessity of resorting to the always forgotten instruction manual.
Ciberconcesionarios Audi.
Currently, in addition to carry out a large part of the selection process online, some brands are already taking new steps and we begin to see the first dealers digital, those in which the user can enjoy a unique digital experience more than to know the vehicle in first person, as is the case of the ciberconcesionarios Audi City, and on the other hand, there is already the offer fully online, i.e., you choose, purchase and receive your car without going to the dealer, all online from your own home.
Each bit time, a brand amazes us with a new initiative, from services of car-sharing to mobility solutions comprehensive, for users to travel large distances and they want to continue the same service from their usual brand in other countries.
The prospects in the industry are immense, but in our writing we have made ourselves the following question. If the procedures and present habits related to the purchase and use of vehicles is changing so much and so fast, What will be the next generation 3.0?.
that Is to say, to evolve the current trends, when everything that today we are amazed, as augmented reality or the 3D glasses, be obsolete. Or, if you have evolved so much in just a decade and a half, how it will be when our children or grandchildren, the purchase or use their vehicles in a few years?.
The system of purchase of vehicles is changing at a steady pace.
A small leap of several decades
After much discussion, and without wishing to fall into mere science fiction but based on the evolution of current trends, we have come to some interesting conclusions.
In the first place, of here a few decades we can almost ensure that the needs of reducing emissions and the evolution of the technology will the disappearance of the internal combustion engine. In fact, for any engineer, the mere natural evolution of the electric vehicles become inefficient and obsolete engines traditional, which even now shows quite inefficient in terms of energy use.
we Cannot ensure yet, because that would be just thinking, if these are powered by batteries, supercapacitors, or whether they should refuel hydrogen or any other type of element, but what is clear is that the movement of the wheels will be generated by a mechanical electrical.
In the same way, considering the demographic evolution of the society, in brief the greater part of the Earth’s population will live in large cities, breaking the current balance, which, together with the considerable size that have some cities, it is easy to foresee that at least in urban environments in the habit of owning a vehicle will be quite different to the current.
The augmented reality glasses today are already a reality.
recent Statistics show that the younger generation that is now entering the motor market, the so-called Millenials, is precisely the generation least interested in automobile history. This new generation has focused its interests in other directions, a smartphone of last generation, it is something much more important for this new social layer, which, together with the urban needs would not be surprising that the status that had the own vehicle, and go away.
Although in environments that are not urban to continue to be a tool or method of transportation needed, the population of the cities will surely have other alternatives that cause this trend, such as new mobility services.
The very diverse options of personal systems of current mobility, are certainly only the first step of a new way of understanding the car. If the initiatives of car-sharing, or services such as Uber continues its current pace, it will end up spreading and by deriving in new solutions that allow for a more straightforward and simple to be eligible for a vehicle when you need it without the need of possessing it.
There are other variables that make us come to this conclusion, as are the actual buying habits of the population. Not only is changing the way you buy a vehicle, the entire society is experiencing this evolution at multiple levels, so it will not be surprising if in a near future we discover how disappears the concept of the traditional store, being replaced by the e-commerce.
The service Audi on demand allows its users to dispose of Audi in other cities.
we don’t want to imagine a bleak future of dark streets in which the disappearance of the shops leads to take Amazon as a trade-traditional “whole life”, to the way that it is for our generation, Harrods or El Corte Inglés, but it’s probably something like that.
The extension of the habit of shopping online can only result in a less amount of transfers unnecessary, and hence, less dependence on the private car.
it Is easy to imagine a future in which companies offer to their customers a fleet of vehicles at their disposal in various cities, so that the user simply exits your home, and may have recourse, as now, public transportation or the vehicle that you have available at that time, paying only for the time spent.
we Can even go further, because if we assume a decrease of the journeys unnecessary, it would be possible that the density of the traffic outside of the cities would decrease. Limited to, those journeys really necessary.
To which is added the future evolution of the still-primitive driving systems autonomous, in new stages could be responsible by themselves to lead not by the vehicle itself but the same traffic at the same time, putting in the coordination of all vehicles that were in the way.
All this does not mean that the concept vehicle property ceases to exist. The manufacturers themselves are not going to allow their sales to collapse and thus its own economy by providing an environment precisely free of vehicles. So that, and slowly, the marks will go up to provide models for certain segments.
it Is difficult to believe that segments such as the luxury or the sport will disappear, or the family car, it will be necessary for a large part of the population, especially outside of the cities. The difference really, we are going to find in those vehicles currently employed in a massive way in the cities.
so you will continue buying cars, although surely not as now. If in a few years we have experienced a revolution in this area, within a few decades they will probably be something very different. If the needs of a large part of the population changes, the positioning of the vehicle as personal transport also, and hence the way in which they are developed, and of course sold also.
A hypothetical city of the future, according to Ford.
The capabilities to display or offer a vehicle will change, but safemind the basic concepts will remain the same. A precise user of a vehicle and in function of the need to try to solve you will find many options on the market.
And marks will continue to appeal to the needs or tastes of those users. For those who need space will feature models styled MPV that will be offered as the most comfortable, and those who want a model striking will continue with sports.
What will change is the process itself, that will surely be electronic in its most. From the selection of the model to the transaction and processing of documentation remotely. We can imagine the human component taking more of a role in on-line, without the need of having as much physical time at the dealership.
Because the dealer, as such, will likely not go away. Because as of today it is not only the location where you are able to purchase the vehicles, but where they receive their maintenance. What surely happens is that don’t handle as much physical documentation, and more than likely the client is able to operate through digital platforms with all the information. From the characteristics, pricing or offers of new vehicles to the control of the maintenance schedule and service appointments.
Some brands will try, as do some today, retain the user making it a sort of partner of their own club. For example, the mobility systems of Audi, still in the stage original, but which allows the customer to get to the airport with your Audi and to pick up another model of the brand in your airport of arrival, having previously selected through an app.
We will be able to find us services of this nature to more levels, so that we can arrive at a specific city and make the last few trips in a vehicle from our brand. Although now it is reserved for customers of the manufacturer, that is to say, people who already own a car of this brand, in the future probably you can have access to these services without actually having a car of your own. Simply being a user of the services of mobility of a particular mark.
This is the new field which will explode the marks, to sell the vehicle without that you really get to have a drive in your garage, which also will result in a lower importance of the process of vein traditional.
as may be bid this is also a good question, whether to sell the vehicle or only to the service of the same will surely make use of the latest technologies. Perhaps we can experience the vehicle remotely thanks to a new generation of augmented reality devices, or we can study it for a full holographic manner, by replacing the classic “see and touch” that we currently experience at the dealership.
The brands already have apps for mobility services.
we Can see also the appearance of multi-brand dealers digital, that is to say, a company that provide all of the services described above, but several brands at the same time, so that its users are not limited to “belong” to a single brand and to dispose only of his range.
we can Also deduce that the symbol of status that has always been the vehicle that we possess can be replaced by the be user of a brand, service or particular company, that is to say, “I am a customer of Mercedes and only drive Mercedes but I don’t have none in my garage”.
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