Prepare yourself for an engaging virtual showroom experience if you’re visiting the 2015 IAA auto show which opens later this month in Frankfurt (September 15-27). You will be able to discover how digital technology will revolutionise the automotive retail process, allowing reduced cost of sales for dealers and vehicle manufacturers, greater customer engagement and increased sale of profitable options.
British virtual experience developer ZeroLight’s 3D car configurator, demonstrated on the IBM stand (Booth B48, Hall 3.1), will accelerate the customer journey from awareness to sale by bringing the car to life in digitised dealerships, allowing customisation and interaction in a visually stunning digital space that can be shared online with friends and family.
ZeroLight and IBM will be demonstrating the technology using an application featuring the Pagani Huayra. This latest system provides a live, interactive 3D model of the car that gives the customer complete freedom to explore and customise his / her chosen vehicle on large, 4K Ultra High Definition displays at the dealership. The demonstration will include the latest innovations in graphical fidelity, interactive features and personalisation.
Potential to transform automotive retailing
ZeroLight CEO Darren Jobling believes the system demonstrated at IAA shows how automotive retailing will be transformed. Customers can zoom in to details like the stitching in leather seats, try every colour combination, open the door, sit in the driver’s seat and take the car out for a virtual test drive in a setting of their choice. Preferences can be quickly shared amongst friends and family via social media, greatly expanding the reach of the dealer and the brand.
“We predict that the most forward-looking showrooms will dedicate around 20-30 percent of their floor space to digital technology by the end of 2016,” says Jobling. “These systems will also be reaching into people’s homes to bring the product to life on the customers’ iPads, phones and web browsers, providing a depth of engagement that has not previously been possible.”
ZeroLight’s digital models are created from the vehicle manufacturer’s Computer Aided Design data and can be updated world-wide across all users in one simple operation. The single computer model replaces typically 20,000-25,000 rendered images that today are expensive to create and update.
“There are many benefits for manufacturers and dealers that use ZeroLight technology,” says Jobling. “For example, there is currently a big move to pre-selling new models through social media before dealers receive their first demonstrators. There is also evidence that immersive configuration, allowing customers to sample many more options, can significantly increase the value of that sale. When dealers and manufacturers can make more profit on options than on the basic car, that alone is a compelling reason to accelerate the introduction of ZeroLight technology.”
ZeroLight, which is a visualisation provider for IBM’s digital automotive retail projects as well as digital showroom provider to Pagani Automobili S.p.A, is a visualisation partner to Audi AG.
Also read: ZeroLight to partner Audi on range of visualisation projects