COVID-19’s economic implications are becoming apparent with every passing day. The primary task for many businesses is not just to combat the outbreak but also to handle its social and economic effects and identify appropriate responses. That is especially the case in the challenged automobile sector. The crisis has severely harmed liquidity, supplies, productivity, and market demand.

To put that in perspective, the reduction in worldwide demand post-covid outbreak is almost equivalent to the total light car sales projections for the United States, Japan, and the United Kingdom.

To everyone’s relief, innovation assists the car sector in combating the pandemic’s negative impacts. It necessitated re-evaluating methods to make operations more dependent on technology for the vehicle and auto component businesses.

Improving the Customer Experience with Technology

The only path ahead to fight the ills of the pandemic is to integrate technology into all parts of production, marketing, and consumer connectivity. Automakers have been embracing technological tools like Analytics, Big Data, Automation, AI, IoT, and ML to enhance customer experience.

Technology is easing the automobile business, from including algorithms that use data for automated operations during automobile setup to promoting greater communication with smart devices.

The use of robots and automated tools has decreased the reliance on human labor. Many advantages of automation are being recognized by automakers, like mass manufacturing, shorter transportation duration, and safer, environmentally friendly automobiles.

Reducing the Production Costs

Utilizing technological transformation tools will help industrialists discover and prioritize further cost-cutting possibilities while safeguarding substantial investments that might deliver considerable long-term benefits.

While cost-reducing during a downturn isn’t new, determining which investments in technology to safeguard in light of long-term economic trends may be a significant success element for automotive firms moving ahead. For example, advancing innovative manufacturing implementation tactics might result in considerable competitive benefits in productivity, efficiency, security, revenue, and profit.

Deploying Artificial Intelligence

The combined capability of Big Data, Automation, AI, IoT, and ML can analyze large volumes of data based on predetermined parameters and correctly identify qualified prospective customers.

Consumer choices are tracked by the Artificial Intelligence system, which then alerts them to enterprises that can meet their needs. Toyota, for instance, uses AI and machine learning to effectively cater to client preferences by matching brands, models, and incentives to each customer’s desires. The dealership increased revenues by 150% due to the individualized client experiences established through digital interaction.

The popularisation of automated vehicles for enhanced driver comfort and decreased accidents is attributable to the expansion of AI in the automotive business. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration in the United States, driverless cars might save $300 billion by 2025 by decreasing crashes and facilitating safe driving. The market income will be supplemented by customers’ growing positive perceptions of autonomous technology.

Bottom Line

According to the findings, nearly half of US customers (47%) want to maintain their current vehicle longer than anticipated. Other major car markets share this degree of concern throughout the world, such as China, Japan, and South Korea.

Using technological developments, market players offer greater convenience to customers while exploiting new generation technology by addressing the customer requirement gap. As a result, the industry is spared from becoming a victim of the unproductive post-COVID market.

Also Read: Challenges Facing the Automotive Industry: An Overview