Cars of 21st century represent not only a mode of transportation, but they also present innovations and technology on wheels.
We are living in an era of technology and solutions all around us. As v12data reports that the global automotive aftermarket industry is expected to reach $722.8 billion by 2020, we are having a look upon two the most popular technologies- IoT & Blockchain. Leveraging IoT and Blockchain, let us have a look at the diverse solutions and applications which can be implemented for automobile after-sales market to enhance operations, better quality of service (QoS) while decreasing the overall costs.
Need of Robust Solutions for Tech filled Automobile Industry
The automobile industry is enormous with multiple segments ranging from manufacturers, dealers, service centers, auto finance companies, OEMs and retailers of auto parts and so on.
The grueling thing is that these segments are poorly integrated due to a lack of ecosystem resulting in operational inefficiencies from shop to the top and the costs incurred are being beared by the car owners along with ride-sharing users as a whole. This created a lack of trust and transparency in the used car market. Also, the grey market in automobile after-sales segment selling fake products is huge and car owners are bearing this pain.
The automotive industry is one of the world’s most technologically advanced production sectors, and its associated markets are incredibly broad, ranging from vehicle sales to auto insurance to car repairs, and the list goes on and on. However, these markets are still highly segregated, leaving the participants to deal with extreme inefficiencies that lead to excess operating costs and inflated prices.
IoT solutions for automobile after-sales market
Emergence IoT technology has brought us to a stage where seamless solutions are being built around multiple industries. Automobile after-sales is no isolation in this regards too. IoT based solutions have transformed not only cars to Smart Cars, but also have resulted in an ultimate shift in transforming garages to go ‘Smart’. Hence, let us have a look at how IoT has impacted the after-sales market with Smart automotive solutions.
IoT based Remote Diagnostic Solution for Garages
A garage or service center is at the core of the automobile after-sales market. The problems of the conventional garages are to wait for the customers, lack of visibility, identification of the problem before finding the solutions resulting in decreased efficiency.
Leveraging IoT app development, garage owners can have their records for their registered customers and track the device if the customer agrees to share some personal bit of information about the cars. By building custom garage apps, the service stations can digitally record vehicle maintenance data for future reference. This saves a lot of time while diagnosing the vehicle in the future.
IoT based solution for Insurance Companies
When a user installs a tracking device into OBD ports of their cars, it sends data. What data, you may ask? Well, whatever information your insurance company deems relevant to determining whether or not you’re a good driver. This data is sent back to your insurance provider.
Read more: How Installing OBD Devices like KarConnect can improve your car insurance premium?
Based on the improved driving behavior and data carried out from the predictive analysis on preventive maintenance, insurance companies can attract their customers with some improved plans or reward points to make them loyal to an auto insurance policy.
Blockchain Technology for Automobile after-sales market
Blockchain has been prolific due to its following benefits:
- unparalleled security
- execution speed
- transparency
- cost reduction
- ability to audit records
- Versatility
Automated Digital Vehicle Maintenance Book for Authorised Service Centers
The first prototype of vehicle maintenance book is announced by Renault last year, in conjunction with Microsoft and consulting company called VISEO. For second-hand cars market, it will cater automated automobile transactions with complete transparency and security as owners and dealers share vehicle history with the potential buyers. This system can also be used by the insurance companies to set rates accordingly to offer a monitored auto insurance policy to their own customers.
Blockchain facilitates Autonomous Ride Sharing
On-demand taxi booking and ride-sharing applications like Uber and Lyft are bringing more innovations to change the way of vehicles being used. Leveraging Blockchain development, this can turn to reality. Tesseract is the Blockchain System launched by Ernst & Young in 2017. This facilitates autonomous sharing of not only the rides but also vehicle ownership. This can be a perfect solution for the fleet management companies to manage the entire autonomous fleet of vehicles. The payments will automatically settle by the system with utmost transparency.
Blockchain Automates Controlled Interactions
Imagine a car could advise the drivers about the need for a repair. Sounds like IoT, right? Yes, it does. However, by the implementation of blockchain ecosystem, this platform can be taken to the next level. Leveraging blockchain technology, drivers can contact remote users of the blockchain ecosystem for updates, nearby suppliers for remote part availability, negotiations in pricing. Even garage owners and service centers can be contacted to fix appointments for service repairs the following access to make payments.
There are millions of devices in the automotive industry communicating with each other and hence, a shared database platform is needed where all this information can be stored in the most secured manner with control over the accessibility.
Blockchain as an Add-On to Vehicle Infotainment Systems
From the car owners point of view, everyone is attracted to the innovations which are pitching in to enhance the driving experience. Today, vehicle infotainment systems can be considered on the same level as the home entertainment systems. Even technology applications like Apple’s CarPlay can do everything that an iPhone does.
Blockchain can be an amazing add-on to infotainment segment in this scenario. Leveraging Blockchain, due to its reliability and transparency in transactions, users can make secured in-car payments instantly for the media content and other services they wish to have.
What the Future Holds with such Technologies?
IoT and Blockchain solutions can stage endless possibilities ranging from a safer and eco-friendly driving behavior, enhanced and favorable auto insurance policies, remote locking and unlocking of the vehicles and more. I am sure the limit is not up to what I have discussed through this blog.
Are you looking for best IoT services and Blockchain solutions? Let’s start a new project together.
Jignesh Thanki 