Techwatch June: Developments in automotive technology

The monthly Techwatch feature by Automotive Management outlines some of the last month's highlights in motor retail technological developments.

By Alex Wright

EMaC has integrated its service and maintenance plan offerings with Tjekvik.

As a result, dealers with EMaC accounts and Tjekvik’s self-service kiosks will be able to promote services and plans to customers checking in their vehicles for aftersales work.

Following a successful pilot, the integration has been rolled out nationally.

Liam Finney, EMaC’s commercial director, said: "The integration recognises when a customer’s vehicle does not have a service or maintenance plan, prompting an offer to purchase them."

Nick Pratt, Tjekvik’s business development director, said: “Working with EMaC is a key strategic move for Tjekvik as it provides an opportunity for us to engage even further with dealers to help them optimise their check-in kiosks to retain customers, deliver more revenue and improve the customer experience.”

Omoda and Jaecoo are trialling a new robotic dealership sales assistant.

Omoda showcased its new Mornine AiMOGA Robot at the Shanghai Motor Show. The humanoid robot can apparently do everything from serving drinks, lead guided dealership tours and talk about the latest Omoda and Jaecoo models.

Mornine can also perform other dealer administrative tasks and reception style services.

The sales robot has a bionic motion system and automotive-grade hardware to support “upright walking and dexterous hand operations”. So far, the AiMOGA Robot is in testing phase as an “intelligent sales consultant” and has been used by an Omoda and Jaecoo dealer in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Vertu Motors has entered into a partnership with Solera Cap HPI to feed in data points required as part of its omnichannel retail strategy.

All dealerships across Vertu’s 200-strong network will use provenance checks, as well as current and forecast vehicle valuations to help the group refine its pricing strategies.

David Crane, chief operations officer at Vertu, said: “The new agreement builds on our long-standing relationship with Solera Cap HPI.”

Crane said that the business is using data-driven decision-making to generate improved returns and deliver a better customer experience.

Solera Cap HPI supports UK dealerships with real-time vehicle valuations and provenance data.

In 2024, the company carried out more than 143.8 million valuations and 29.2m HPI checks through its digital platforms.

Epyx and Automotive Management have launched a new free data resource for dealers that provides a view of key metrics covering fleet use of garages.

The 1link Index is based on data drawn from Epyx’s 1link Service Network platform, which is used by more than 8,500 garages to provide servicing, maintenance and repair to businesses operating more than four million vehicles.

Information is provided in four areas – average cost of a basket of parts, average labour rates for franchise and non-franchise dealerships, average cost of servicing for cars three years old and under, and the percentage of jobs (not including tyres) carried out in franchised dealerships.

It covers a period from the start of the decade and will be updated every month.

Tim Rose, editor of Automotive Management, said: "AM is not just about offering online news and features but also tools that are of practical use to dealers and we are very pleased to be working in partnership with Epyx to bring this new data to our readers.”

Tim Meadows, chief commercial officer at Epyx, said: "We provide a wide range of data services for dealers covering many different metrics, and the new 1link Index that we are launching in collaboration with AM provides some of the most in-demand information free of charge.”

Codeweavers and Localise are rolling out integrated real-time finance options directly into Google Vehicle adverts. The collaboration enables dealers to display monthly payment details within search results.

Adam Canay, head of retail and partnerships at Codeweavers, said: “By embedding finance calculators into Google Vehicle Ads, we’re enabling dealers to present tailored finance options at the very first point of contact.”

Raphael Millin, managing director at Localise, said: “By displaying real-time finance information, we’re meeting car buyers at their point of interest and giving them the clarity they need to make informed decisions.”

Dealers can access the new integration through a free month’s trial.

Skoda has launched a digital new car sales experience with Amazon. Customers start their journey at amazon.co.uk/skoda or through the Amazon app on their smartphone or tablet.

Once they have compared features and found the Skoda model they would like, they are connected to their preferred retailer, who they can visit to arrange finance, agree any part-exchanges and set a collection date.

The entire Skoda range is available on Amazon.

The Czech brand describes this as a click to drive experience that combines the best of digital convenience with the reassurance of face-to-face dealership support.

Matthew Bowden, director of Skoda UK, said: “Online browsing and research are part of everyday life, which is why we’re so excited to launch the Skoda showroom at Amazon.”

Renault UK has partnered with Phyron to integrate its AI (video solutions to help market its approved used vehicles online.

Dealers within the Renault network will now use Phyron’s AI software to automatically generate video content from existing Renew approved used vehicle listings to automatically generate video content, with no manual editing required.

The French brand said that the AI technology "ensures consistency, quality and scalability, helping Renault UK streamline its digital marketing efforts across its network".

Matthew Heffy, national used car, residual value and direct supply manager from Renault UK’s approved used car programme Renew, said: “With consumers increasingly turning to online platforms for vehicle research and purchases, Renew’s adoption of Phyron’s AI software ensures consistency in our imagery in line with the brand look and feel."

Johan Sundstrand, chief executive and co-founder of Phyron, said the partnership with Renault represents a major milestone in the company's mission to "revolutionise automotive retail".

Phyron’s latest version of its AI powered software can now buy and optimise targeted video advertising campaigns on Meta social media channels, where customers are reporting a 35% increase in sales leads.

The technology takes the manual process of creating videos for each car on a dealership's forecourt and automates it "within minutes".

Keyloop has launched its new Service Hub to help workshops manage internal and customer-facing stages in the aftersales journey.

The web-based solution is aimed at helping manage the booking process to check-out to increase order value, efficiency and customer satisfaction.

The primary tools within Service Hub fall under four main categories:

• Customer experience and efficiency – includes Online Service Booking; Online and In-store Check-In; Booking Management; and On-the-Day Management.
• Technician tools – includes digitised clocking for time recording, as well as reporting on productivity; and inspections for identifying, logging and reporting on additional work.
• Workshop management – to allocate and control all workshop jobs, with a focus on maximising productivity, utilisation and efficiency.
• Aftersales consumer engagement – to manage all aftersales-related communication and engagement through customers’ preferred channels, aiding approvals and upsell through personalised messaging and prompts for the service department.

Service Hub sits within the ownership domain of Fusion, Keyloop’s new automotive retail platform. All of the tools in Service Hub draw upon information held in Fusion’s active data core, which provides a single record of customer interactions and transactions, as well as the live status of any aftersales service contracts.

Over a two-month period, Keyloop said pilot dealerships achieved improvements in a range of aftersales performance criteria. 

Pilot dealers noted that 45% of online bookings were taken outside typical working hours, and overall transaction value rose, with 20% of customers that checked-in online going on to take upsell items.

Meanwhile, service departments found that customer queries were resolved up to four times faster via Service Hub and there was a 50% reduction in the volume of outbound pre-visit customer calls required.

Additionally, there was a three-minute saving per repair order at these Beta dealerships, while the idle time per technician was cut by up to 45 minutes per day.

Bumper has deepened its partnership with Pinewood.AI by launching a new open banking integration that enables car retailers to process pay by bank and pay by card transactions directly from their dealer management systems.

Now live across more than 200 dealerships, the integration allows retailers to send payment requests via email or SMS, enabling customers to complete transactions using their bank accounts, debit/credit cards, or digital wallets such as Apple Pay and Google Pay.

Bumper is the sole provider of open banking services within the Pinewood.AI ecosystem in the UK and builds on its existing partnership through its PayLater option via Pinewood.AI’s vehicle health check tool.

Retailers benefit from lower transaction fees, faster payment processing and reduced administration. The platform also offers intelligent payment routing, only displaying relevant payment options to customers based on pre-set criteria to streamline the user experience and maximise cost savings.

“This major integration expands our relationship with Pinewood.AI and is already delivering significantly lower costs per transaction for dealers, compared to traditional card payments,” said Daniel Christie, head of sales at Bumper.

The companies have also confirmed that their next joint innovation - PayPad - is already in development. The solution aims to unify all transaction types through a single interface, including in-store PoS payments, remote card transactions, secure bank transfers and Buy Now, Pay Later options.