Automotive and mobility have multiple value streams like improving consumer experience to enhancing marketing effectiveness, optimising product development and supply chain. Therefore, the industry is a green pasture of applications of Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning. At TVS Motor, we digitse the customer experience in direct-to-consumer platforms like our web and mobile apps and digital-aided experiences through our dealer partners. We actively leverage data attributes and consumer insights that such digitization brings to improve customer experience and business performance.
For example, we look at attributes that differentiate the probability of a consumer’s purchase action and model these with sophisticated algorithms such as gradient boosting and bagging techniques. These algorithms leverage multidimensional parameter combinations to classify prospects into several clusters based on their propensity to buy. We pair this with recommendation engines that specify targeted actions at every dealership – actions like hyperlocal marketing, enquiry conversion tactics or stocking changes. Our dealer partners and sales teams leverage these to target retail actions, thereby increasing our sales.
The deployment of these digital and AI products does have nuances. Since the automotive buying experience is a “phygital” experience, where consumers research vehicles online but finally buy online, AI cannot be digital alone. For, how do you convince the sales executive at the dealership that an algorithm has a better likelihood of predicting sales potential than them? Especially when they have interacted with the consumer, taken them on a test ride, have understood the customer’s needs and preferences.
Similarly, how do you convince experienced quality engineers that have honed several years of expertise in ascertaining the quality of the final vehicle based on how it rides and how the engines sound that an AI algorithm can also detect quality issues? Or how vision AI can be used to detect painting or packaging defects?
We look at human-in-the-loop solutions in such spaces for augmented intelligence to prosper, where AI algorithms aid experts to improve decision accuracy, consistency and speed. Designed experiments show that such combination of human and machine learning fares better than either alone. Thus, the deployment of digital and AI is also “phygital” like the vehicle buying experience of today!
The extent of digital and AI integration will significantly increase in this coming decade. Augmented and mixed reality experiences are becoming more immersive and exciting through virtual worlds. Metaverse promises to be a thrilling ride in the offing to personalise one’s digital travel journeys. This personalisation will obviously become more immersive in the real universe too – from shopping and service experiences to vehicle design and riding experiences with connected software.
Vision and voice AI will be pervasive from the initial shopping journey to how we interact with vehicles or the companion mobile apps and assist the ride to be safer and more comfortable as we move towards autonomy. Blockchain would provide longitudinal visibility to vehicle quality, upkeep and ownership provenance. Decentralised Finance (DeFi) could transform retail financing and non-fungible tokens (NFTs) could create monetizable collectibles from vehicle ownership to digitized rendering of ride experiences.
AI algorithms and digitalisation are also critical pillars in mainstreaming electric mobility: battery management, navigational assist, range predictions, charging reservations, and infotainment. These technologies also have transformative power in automotive design and manufacturing, benefiting from digital twins, virtual modeling, Internet of Things, 3D printing at-scale and material sciences.
Autonomous driving will fundamentally change how people and products move: transforming the ownership-access balance, robotic and drone-based deliveries becoming the norm, altering vehicle form factors and energy consumed, creating opportunities for new business models and innovations, even reshaping the communities we live and work in.
Digitisation and AI are either primary enablers of these transformations or will be significant beneficiaries of these through the massive data they produce. With this intent, we have adopted a digital and AI path at TVS Motor that will create competitive advantage in providing immersive customer experience, superior products and breakthrough business performance.
Good article