• BMW-i is the first automotive brand in the world to offer customers an interactive, 3-D augmented reality experience of their products in a pilot program which is being rolled-out.
Using Tango, Google’s smartphone augmented reality technology, customers can explore their ideal BMW i3 or i8, as a real-size, interactive visualization.
“Our vehicles are emotional products and to get that emotional feeling, you really need to experience them,” commented Andrea Castronovo, BMW Group vice president, sales strategy and future retail.
“In situations where the desired product isn’t available on the spot, this visualization is the next best thing,” he said.
• One of Europe’s best selling compact SUVs has landed in the GCC, bringing with it a fresh look, new tech and a new name.
Already well-established as an urban warrior with over 600,000 sales globally, the Opel Mokka’s latest version is now known as the MOKKA X.
The added ‘X’ is the new global identifier for the brand’s innovative future direction for its SUV and crossover vehicles.
It will also be seen in the first ever Crossland X model to be launched in 2017 as part of a product offensive by the German automaker, which will see five new models brought to the region over the next twelve months.
Aimed at drivers who are looking for a vehicle that is safe, family oriented and powerful, the new MOKKA X merges functionality, connectivity, technology and safety in an easy-to-handle package.
• Ford’s expansion to an auto and mobility company gained momentum, as the company unveiled the new F-150 pickup, announced the return of the Ranger pickup in North America and Bronco globally, and presented its vision for the “City of Tomorrow.”
Ford’s news at the North American International Auto Show — including expansion of its chariot ride-sharing service to eight cities — underscores the company’s drive to strengthen its core automotive business while aggressively expanding in growing mobility services.
“This year, the expansion of our business as an auto and mobility company moves into even higher gear,” said Mark Fields, president and CEO.
“We’re introducing even more new vehicles and technologies to make life better for millions of people.”
• Infiniti has previewed ‘co-pilot’, an evolving suite of autonomous drive support technologies, at the 2017 North American International Auto Show (NAIAS) in Detroit, US. Central to the strategy for the development of all future ‘co-pilot’ systems is that they should ensure the driver retains ultimate control over their vehicle — in keeping with Infiniti’s focus on driver engagement.
Empowering rather than replacing the driver, ‘co-pilot’ will take on the management of less rewarding driving tasks, such as ensuring safe progress in stop-start traffic on the highway or keeping track of the position of surrounding vehicles.
The ‘co-pilot’ technologies feature on the QX50 Concept, which demonstrates how a future Infiniti premium mid-sized SUV could look like in the future.
BMW-i pilots augmented reality visualizer
BMW-i pilots augmented reality visualizer
Price cuts drive sales of Saudi-owned electric car
- Lucid delivers more vehicles than expected as it prepares to launch luxury new Gravity SUV
RIYADH: The majority Saudi-owned electric car maker Lucid delivered more vehicles than expected in the past three months as price cuts helped boost demand.
The company delivered 2,394 cars from April to June 30, above analysts’ predictions of 1,940.
Lucid produced 3,838 vehicles in the first six months of 2024 and needs to make more than 5,162 cars by end of the year to meet its annual output forecast of 9,000. It made 8,428 cars in 2023.
“I think at this point everything is shaping for them to achieve that,” said Andres Sheppard, senior equity analyst at Cantor Fitzgerald. Lucid will produce and deliver more cars in the second half of the year because of the usual seasonal effects on the industry, he said.
Demand for electric vehicles has grown more slowly than expected pace in the past year, under pressure from high borrowing costs, economic uncertainties and consumer preference for hybrid alternatives.
Lucid and the market leader Tesla have responded by slashing prices and offering incentives such as cheaper financing options. Lucid, which is 60-per-cent owned by the Public Investment Fund, the Kingdom’s sovereign wealth fund, cut the price of its flagship Air model by 10 percent in February.
Its new Gravity SUV model, a rival for Tesla's Model X, goes into production this year and will cost about $80,000.
