Creating customer-centric mobility experiences with the power of digital

The growing impact of digitalization on our daily lives and the ongoing transition to electric mobility has caused massive disruption in the automotive industry.

In many ways, the playing field has been leveled and new doors have been opened. Tesla was the first to shake things up in this new age of electric, software-driven mobility (though today is experiencing its own struggles) while relative newcomers like Kia and Hyundai have used the opportunity caused by this disruption to strengthen their position against ‘higher-shelf’ brands with strong electric offerings. Most recently, a wave of digital-first Chinese newcomers have emerged – they’ve grown quickly in their home market (the biggest in the world) and are now gearing up to take on the European automotive market and others. It’s clear that the formula for how to win market share is changing, irreversibly so. 

Brand heritage, local presence, and familiarity still count. But perhaps not as much as OEMs like to think. For example, according to our latest study on automotive customer experience (CX), 73% of organizations surveyed prioritize brand reputation, and yet only 48% of consumers do the same. And of those consumers considering a vehicle purchase in the next 12 months, 52% express uncertainty or dissatisfaction with their current brand.

The message is clear: The physical product alone – even the most perfect one – is not enough. Automotive brands aspiring to succeed in an increasingly software-driven and electrified market must upgrade much more than their product portfolios – they need to transform their entire approach to interacting with and serving their customers, inside and outside the vehicle.

What do we mean by customer experience in automotive?

“CX in the automotive industry is the sum of all interactions that a consumer or a user has with vehicles, brands, dealers, and mobility companies over time.”

Capgemini: Joining the race: Automotive’s drive to catch up with customer experience

For automotive customers, this means everything from the moment you start thinking about buying or leasing a car, through your test drive and selection process, delivery or collection, driving time, service visits, right up to the moment you return the car or decide to sell it.

This understanding of the automotive customer experience is very different to what it was just a few years ago and the opportunities to influence it are growing dramatically as several trends converge:

• Software-defined vehicles and the transition to electric mobility
• Digitalization or ‘apple-ization’ and its growing role in our personal lives and in business
• The rise of new sales and business models, and ways to own or access a car (mobility as a service – everything from on-demand short-term rental to ride hailing and robotaxis)
• Increased consumer confidence with e-commerce, even with ‘big ticket’ items like cars

With more opportunities and touchpoints than ever before and with the car being the third-most-frequented place by most people (after home and work), it is imperative that carmakers invest in providing a holistically satisfying customer experience, across all touchpoints and all stages of the vehicle lifecycle.

This isn’t just about getting the sale – it’s about becoming an integral part of the customer’s digital universe and building the type of trust and loyalty that people today have toward the Apple ecosystem.

So how can automotive brands use digital to transform their customer experiences and reap the benefits?

Ten touchpoints to transform with digital

Let’s look at some of the key touchpoints that can be transformed or enabled with digital, and how they could contribute to longer and stronger relationships with customers.

1. Blending online and offline experiences

The dealer-based sales model is in a state of flux. Consumers feel increasingly comfortable researching and doing deals online – even for big-ticket items like cars – and yet the showroom experience is still important to many.

This is a complicated topic. Manufacturers can benefit from direct access to customers and the data this generates but it’s not as straightforward as simply removing the dealer or agency level, as this risks alienating those customers who value the human touch and undermining decades-long relationships that have benefited all parties.

Instead, the onus is on how to seamlessly blend the human interactions at showrooms and salons with slick online experiences to create 360-degree views of customers and ensure needs are met at all touchpoints and stages of increasingly fluid customer journeys. With the data available and technologies like Gen AI and sophisticated CRMs at our disposal, everything is possible.

2. Mobile apps that add value

Customers today aren’t just looking at the car – its performance, comfort, features, and price. More than ever, they’re also considering the mobile applications that accompany the vehicle and evaluating how it integrates with their daily lives and complements their personal digital ecosystem.

So how can carmakers make a positive difference through their mobile applications? Can you use them to unlock the car so you can leave your keys at home? Do they allow you to pay for fuel or charging? Can you remotely check the status of your car and prepare it for imminent use? And, perhaps most importantly, is the app reliable and intuitive to use? This is one of the areas where brands like Tesla originally made waves and it’s clear that the mobile app (including seamless integration with the charging network) has been an important contributor to the rise of the brand.

3. Smartphone integration

The car and smartphone are key companions in daily life. If they work together well, customers are happy.  Satisfaction with in-car infotainment is higher when Apple CarPlay and Android Auto are available, but their inclusion arguably risks ceding control of the in-car experience and the possible brand-building and revenue-generating experiences that go with it.

This has led to a fragmented landscape:

1. Tesla doesn’t allow full integration
2. GM ditched CarPlay and Android Auto from its EVs
3. CARIAD (the software arm of the VWG) originally committed to building its own app store to cover VWG brands
4. Porsche signed up for deep, custom integration with Apple CarPlay and for a familiar, yet on-brand feel and Aston Martin has been a first adopter of the latest version

This diversity of approaches demonstrates that nobody has it all figured out yet. I expect many more developments in this area in the months and years ahead. Apple may have abandoned its plans to build its own car, but other smartphone players haven’t. Xiaomi entered the automotive scene at lightning pace and is now building out a portfolio of impressive vehicles. Huawei has been active through the Aito brand (and others) and is now focused on providing key tech solutions to variety of OEMs. Meanwhile, NIO released its own smartphone and major smartphone manufacturer Foxconn has built up a lot of expertise and is surely poised to make a big splash at some point in the near future. The convergence between smart phones and smart vehicles might not be complete yet, but for sure it will continue to evolve and influence consumer choice. 

4. Continuous evolution with ‘over the air’ updates

For most drivers, vehicle service and maintenance visits are a hassle – one that takes precious time out of already-packed schedules and delivers little tangible value beyond peace of mind.

With electric and software-defined cars, these visits can be reduced and many checks, updates, and enhancements can be executed ‘over the air’ using software and an internet connection. This is what we expect with our smartphones and it’s increasingly what customers expect with their cars. Get it right with smooth execution, constant evolution, and the addition of new features and functions, and each major update becomes a positive talking point and an opportunity to strengthen relationships with customers.

For legacy brands, however, there are two key challenges to overcome:

• Understanding if and how a software-enabled approach can replace the revenue streams generated by repair and service visits for decades. This, after all, is reliant on an as yet unproven willingness by customers to pay
• Aligning the software stacks of tier-1 suppliers and building up the appropriate capabilities to roll out high-quality software smoothly – no small task for this with complex supplier ecosystems, as Ford CEO Jim Farley famously explained

5. Simplified and satisfying charging experiences

The refueling experience has never been much of a concern for automotive brands. But with electric mobility, the situation is altogether different. Carmakers have much to consider – what charging speeds to enable, whether to enable vehicle-to-appliance/home/grid charging, how to support the development of charging infrastructure, and whether to get involved in providing payment solutions or not (e.g., via the car’s mobile or onboard app). These are questions that require deep consideration – there is huge potential to enhance the customer experience, but it requires the creation of new business models, and the acquisition of new capabilities and assets.

Today, we see a variety of approaches to charging. Ionity is a European example of a joint-venture approach to supporting charging infrastructure, VW Group has the Electrify America company for the US market, Tesla has its class-leading proprietary global network, and NIO stands out for its battery-swap stations. Porsche has experimented with charging lounges to reflect the brand’s premium status. Renault Group, through its Mobilize brand, has partnered with Autostrade per l’Italia (ASPI), via its subsidiary Free To X to build out the charging network in Italy.

One thing is clear – until charging infrastructure becomes more readily available and reliable, carmakers aspiring to win with electric mobility will need to ensure that they play their part in making charging experiences as easy and convenient as possible. 

6. Autonomous driving

Despite slower-than-anticipated progress for many years, assisted and autonomous driving remain firmly on the agenda of every major car company. Of course, the need for proven safety means there is no space for shortcuts but recent advances in AI have opened the door to faster progress (which was very much visible at the Auto Shanghai show this year). The prize for being among the first to reach the recognized autonomous driving levels is potentially huge – an unprecedented level of customer trust and the opportunity to engage passengers and drivers with new services while the car drives itself.

There is still much to learn about the best way to monetize this capability – will it be a one-off lifetime payment, a subscription, or something else? And what does BYD’s recent reveal of its

God’s Eye technology – which will offer sophisticated ADAS features as standard, even on budget vehicles – mean for the rest of the market and rivals’ hopes of establishing a new revenue stream with autonomous tech?

7. In-car entertainment and engagement

As brands transition toward electric mobility and autonomous mobility approaches, focus shifts away from pure performance to how else the vehicle can engage and entertain us.

At CES 2025, I observed the impressive BMW Panoramic iDrive, which is clearly focused on using digital to enhance the driver experience. At the same time, brands like Zeekr (part of the Geely group) were inviting people to experience luxury-lounge experiences from the back seat. It begs the question … will the vehicles of the future be digitally enhanced versions of what they are today, i.e. driving machines? Or will they be places to pass the time enjoyably or productively while an autonomous driving system takes care of getting us from A to B? One thing is for sure – consumers will be spoiled for choice.

Screens are opening a world of CX-enhancing possibilities – for drivers and passengers

The screen (or screens) opens a world of possibilities. One area to watch is gaming, a popular pastime for much of today’s car-buying demographic. In recent years, we’ve seen Audi invest in the mixed-reality Holoride solution, BMW partner up with AirConsole, and high-end Teslas offering Steam integration. Is it possible that in-car gaming and other interactive experiences could become a key differentiator? Honda and Sony certainly think it might, betting big on in-car entertainment with their Afeela brand.

8. AI-powered assistants and in-car companionship

At CES 2023, BMW wowed us with its vision of the car as a digital companion and the bold DEE concept. This was followed in 2024 with VW’s introduction of IDA, a ChatGPT-powered assistant. These were big news in the ‘West’, despite in-car AI assistants being commonplace in China already. I had the opportunity to experience NIO’s Nomi assistant (first released in English back in 2021) a couple of years back, which – with remarkably fast learning capabilities – felt lightyears ahead of its time.

And while for some, the idea of an ever-present digital companion in the car might seem intrusive, there is undeniable potential to strengthen customer loyalty. Think about it … would you find it easy to say ‘goodbye’ to a companion that had learned about your in-car and mobility preferences and who had helped and accompanied you on thousands of daily commutes and road trips? Or would you be tempted to transfer him or her and all the built-up familiarity to a new vehicle from the same brand?

The presence and role of the digital assistant is a whole new dimension that will change the in-car experience, and the emergence and advance of agentic AI promises to augment experiences and customer service inside and outside the car (as well as in the business).

9. Embracing the digital ecosystem

Automotive companies are in an enviable position as the provider of the ‘third living space’ and being at least somewhat responsible for ensuring safe and satisfying transport in our daily lives. They can truly make their cars and brands integral parts of their customers’ lives in ways that few other companies can. But, for most automotive OEMs, translating this potential into reality is too tall an order to achieve alone. This is where teaming up with specialized partners and engaging in an ecosystem approach makes sense. This could be by partnering up with payment platforms, health-tech companies, and any other companies whose products and services complement the mobility experience. The opportunities are almost endless. The key is for OEMs to explore partner opportunities that truly add value and ensure that the vehicle is – and remains – a core part of the customer’s digital ecosystem. Do this well and there is no limit to how long the relationship with customers can last.

10. Data-powered personalization

When we consider all the touchpoints above, two common factors are the reliance on and enabling role of software and data. By gathering and using the data generated by every interaction with an app, every journey, every acceleration, every service accessed, and every charge, brands can create and propose additional services, subtly adjust existing functions to better suit driver needs and preferences, and much more. In short, they can get closer to customers than ever before and finetune the experience to continuously improve the relationship.

But are incumbent automotive brands set up to maximize this opportunity today? In most cases, the answer is ‘no’. Data often sits in siloes, owned by specific areas of the business or by the tier-one supplier. From an organizational perspective – customer-focused departments typically limit their remit to the areas of sales, service and aftersales. There is a strong argument for the creation of a dedicated customer experience domain that has access to data from right across the car-and-customer relationship (CRM, telematics, subscriptions, Finance, Insurance), and has the goal of bringing it all together to understand, strengthen, and extend the experience, wherever possible.

For the incumbents this requires organizational and technological transformation. However, the benefits – increased revenue, greater loyalty, and the potential for stronger and longer relationships and an integral place within the customer’s digital universe – are worth the effort. And remember: if you don´t do it, there’s a good chance a new entrant with fewer legacy constraints will.

 Getting up to speed on automotive CX

The vast majority of the touchpoints and opportunities listed above are already being explored by automotive companies today. However, the key to success in the future will be the quality of the experience at each touchpoint and the ability of the car maker to bring them all together – cost effectively and at scale – as part of an overall satisfying mobility experience, one that is intuitive, seamless and enjoyable, and adds convenience and comfort to the end user’s life.

To learn how you can bridge the gap between customer expectation and the experience you provide, check out our report on the automotive customer experience or reach out to our automotive experts.