A transformation is taking place in the automotive industry. Beyond COVID-19, tectonic shifts are happening; consumers' buying habits are changing and will continue to evolve. Alongside this, technological innovation continues to accelerate, with automation and electrification driving market disruption.
Our recent study reported that by 2030, the global automotive industry will be worth just under nine trillion U.S. dollars. It’s expected that new vehicle sales will account for approximately 38% of this value. In the next decade, 1 in 5 new car sales globally is expected to be electric battery vehicles, and millions of new self-driving cars will be added to the world’s fleet.
In order to remain competitive in the long run, established players must use technology to reinvent themselves. Technologies like cloud computing, artificial intelligence, and the Internet of Things (IoT) offer the chance to become an "intelligent industry" and will be key to meeting growing customer expectations.
The need for an improved, more practical online-to-offline sales process that is in line with customer expectations and service standards in other industries is growing. Today, 75% of consumers want to purchase their next car online. Experience is important too: around 86% of consumers are willing to share data with agents or automakers to experience a personalised, seamless journey.
Enter Salesforce Automotive Cloud
The automated, intelligent, and real-time technology of Salesforce Automotive Cloud, powered by Driver 360, provides automakers, dealerships, and automotive financing groups with a holistic view of the full customer and vehicle lifecycle.
Automotive Cloud is the engine that will drive the industry forward during this period of historic change by enabling real-time personalisation and intelligence across the entire buyer journey. Regardless of whether clients are looking for a new car, making a purchase, researching available financing options or having their existing vehicles serviced, businesses can now streamline all these processes in one platform.
What is Salesforce Automotive Cloud?
With the help of the brand-new "Salesforce Automotive Cloud" companies can now connect with customers at every point of the purchasing process. Companies can now speed up their time-to-value because Driver 360's pre-built solutions are made with data models and methods that are unique to the automotive industry.
They can also use data insights to give personalised recommendations based on each customer's unique tastes and needs throughout the buying process.
Driver Console: Through continual touchpoints and individualised notifications, Driver Console gives automotive staff a bird's-eye view of every encounter with a customer, from initial vehicle research and purchase to subsequent service visits. This helps companies and other ecosystem partners offer more personalised services, promotions, and vehicle suggestions.
Vehicle Console: Any employee of a car manufacturer, dealership, or finance company has instant access to crucial vehicle information, such as the vehicle's current mileage, estimated resale value, and service and maintenance records.
Drive leads. Drive sales. Drive more profit.
Automakers and dealerships need to communicate more effectively than ever before to manage new leads, generate sales, handle inventory, and create better customer experiences. This is necessitated by new selling methods as well as the expectations of digitally-savvy customers.
With “Automotive Lead Management," dealers and automakers can work together to send the highest-quality leads directly to the dealership of the prospective customer's choice, along with a comprehensive profile of the customer's wants, needs, and history.
Analysing dealership performance on a regional scale and keeping tabs on lead pipelines are both made much simpler with “Dealer Performance Management." Automakers and dealerships must work together to create the right partnerships and give customers the best experience when buying or developing their vehicles, components, and services.
Utilise your data, analytics, and automation
Looking to create unified dealer and customer experiences under your brand? With "Flow for Automotive," your teams can do more with less while providing better customer experiences at scale. Flow for Automotive offers intelligent automation with configuration and integration tools that can be set up with just a few clicks. This makes it possible to create and share branded, automated experiences like offers for new cars, ways to pay for them, and reminders to get the car serviced.
Through “Analytics for Automotive,” companies can gain access to information that can be used to monitor and optimize their operations. Built-in dashboards give a detailed overview of sales and business performance, customer and asset lifespan, and revenue trends, allowing businesses to make more informed decisions and deliver better results to customers, faster.
Salesforce Genie is a real-time customer data platform that helps automotive companies bring together all the information they have about their customers and vehicles, no matter what channel or interaction they are using. With this technology, for example, a customer's case history, service requests, and vehicle data can all be put together into a single real-time customer profile.
Creating a roadmap for future Growth
Even though COVID-19 brought several challenges for the automotive industry, it has also acted as a catalyst, accelerating the digitalisation of automotive sales. Compared with other industries, automakers have historically been slow to use their channels to sell cars online, generate and own consumer data, and create value throughout the sales process. These automakers run the risk of losing the lead when it comes to emerging technologies and connected services.
Due to our prior work with numerous automotive companies, such as Volkswagen Financial Services, MDL Mercedes-Benz, and the AA, we have extensive experience developing solutions that assist businesses in undergoing digital transformation while showcasing the power of Salesforce.
And Salesforce Automotive Cloud is now paving the way for the automotive industry to become a truly “intelligent industry.” Whether you're a car manufacturer, dealership, or financing group, companies that leverage technology to give superior customer service, greater personalisation, and higher operational performance will come out on top.