Automotive News Canada asked two of Salesforce Canada’s thought leaders in the connected-car sphere — Rory Macleod, Area Vice-President of Sales, Manufacturing, Automotive and Energy; and Achyut Jajoo, Senior Vice-President and General Manager, Manufacturing and Automotive — to help demystify the emerging era of the software-defined vehicle and to explain the challenges — and detail the opportunities — that await auto companies.
Q: What types of experiences are on the horizon that will be supported through connected or software-defined vehicles? Another common situation where connected cars will be helpful is with fender-benders. In a software-defined vehicle, camera recognition technology will confirm everyone is OK and doesn’t require medical assistance. Then, a workflow can automatically kick off — alerting the insurance carrier, proactively calling a tow truck and initiating the claims process, all automatically and in real time.
With connected vehicles, OEMs now have the opportunity to engage with their customer on a daily basis, and the only way to engage and delight customers at scale is with automation. It’s clear how this can help increase the customer lifetime value, but what about the vehicle’s lifetime value? OEMs and dealers don’t know and can’t interact with the second or third owner of a vehicle or other drivers within the same household.
Let’s say you’ve started out on a road trip, but you don’t have a trip optimization service installed on your vehicle. To help, your automaker can see this and immediately send a notification through your car’s infotainment system to install the service — which can point you to the best rest stops, find the best places for you to recharge or refuel at the lowest cost, and other features that will make your trip easier and more enjoyable.