AI, Automation, EV and 2023 trends in Automotive

Article by Dave Simms - Head of Automotive - Epsilon International UK Ltd

This year I attended Automotive Live and there were a few key themes throughout that were noteworthy and are shaping the industry.

AI will sell cars by 2025

Johan Sundstrand of Phyron's initial statement in his discussion was that 'AI will sell cars by 2025'. He asked who agrees and many people put their hands up. I did not as I thought maybe it was not the right question. I bought a car recently and I would not have relied on machines to help me make my decision. It was a combination of on and offline and the process took a long time. AI can help, but we are a very long way off AI and automation guiding someone through the whole process over time, especially when it comes to new cars.

It was also posed that if you can get a piece of automation it will lower stress levels, which you can't argue with. The context used at the event was that marketers are being asked to do too much which overloads the team. Often tasks that should not fall under the marketing remit. Where AI and automation has been successful in auto is where they 'reduce manual tasks and time to market'. Phyron suggested that 8 out of 9 processes for a large Nordic car group were taken care of by non humans.

Our take at Epsilon, where our platform does incorporate AI and machine learning, is that yes, they are a big part, but the way to really move the customer, emotionally and then to transactional is to incorporate human learning at the individual level and also humans involved who are invested in the outcomes of the business. There are not many companies in Martech that have truly cracked this.

Buying trends and EV

In a session headed up by Rachael Jones of Autotrader, there were some interesting statistics. Consumer confidence is coming back. 9/10 Autotrader customers feel more confident about buying their next car. The panel discussed that although confidence is up, access to finance is getting harder. Just one more barrier to sale. Used car pricing is 21% down in 2023 than 2022, which counters this somewhat.

In October this year used electric vehicles were fastest selling on Autotrader. This is despite the fact that compulsory EV has been put back to 2035. The panel, which included Steve Catlin of Volvo, all agreed that if you haven't got an EV strategy as a dealership and build a brand around this, you are going to be too late to capitalise on this opportunity. EV's are more expensive, but the demand is certainly there.

Summary

There is some way to go with AI, to be an integral part of businesses, but many brands are already using this to their advantage. EV's are a big opportunity, but positioning your finance deals right are likely to be the key to overcome barriers, especially when consumer confidence is rising.

Epsilon Automotive

Epsilon is the global leader in Customer Identity. When it comes to auto, it's imperative to maintain a connection to individuals the whole way through the sales process no matter where a customer is in the funnel. Epsilon have a suite of platform solutions all connected to our Identity solution which allows dealers, OEMs and retailers in this space to create a long term connected to prospects and buyers. We then personalise to individuals across channels seamlessly and measure real outcomes.

Get in touch if you wish to learn more.

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