2018: 5 Automotive Trends to Watch

With the Millennials stepping into dealerships more than ever, 2018 is poised to be a defining year for the automotive industry. Vying for the pie with dealers are new commuting concepts like Mobility-as-a-Service as well as newer marketing models like Tesla.

Trend 1: Smart Cars with Drive Assist Technology

Technological advances are expected to take new driver assist technologies mainstream in 2018. Technologies like Cruise Control, Lane Departure Assist, Steering Assist, Park Assist, and pre-collision systems, when combined, can deliver a semi-autonomous driving experience. This technological trend not only helps minimize accidents, but also helps drivers to be more socializing during long drives with friends and family, which 93% of U S parents look forward to. In the next ten years alone, assisted driving is all poised to save over 900,000 lives and 1 Trillion dollars in insurance costs. 

This trend will gain mainstream status in 2018, with many sub-$20k cars being launched with these features for the 2018 model year.

Trend 2: Hybrid and Electric Technology

While almost every automotive OEM has a Hybrid model range, the good thing in 2018 is that this model range is now nearer  to the $20k price-point which makes them affordable to a lot more prospective car buyers.

At a time when the Millennials are hitting the auto market in large numbers, the availability of Hybrids, Plug-in Hybrids, and EVs at affordable price-points is of great significance.

Trend 3: Mobility as a Service (MaaS) and Shared Mobility

With ride requests rising 150% year on year, companies like Uber and Lyft are ushering in a new mobility experience. This trend is all poised to make further inroads in 2018.

This area will see exploding growth once driverless cars go mainstream and the cost of MaaS offerings drop drastically, but that may not be a reality before 2020.

Trend 4: Virtual Reality Car Experiences

Want to take a test-drive when it is freezing outside? No issues, just put on your VR glasses and hit Go!

The same goes for demonstrating devices and situations which are near-impossible to demo in real life – like what happens in an accident and how air-bags are deployed.

Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR) are already available for automotive OEMs and are all set to hit dealer showrooms in 2018, with service providers like izmofx leading the way.

Trend 5: Crossovers

With 93% of American parents saying yes to long family drives, and MaaS providers growing exponentially in urban transportation, the present Crossover trend is likely to extend into 2018 as well.

The NADA Market Beat for November 2017 confirms this trend, with Crossovers accounting for 37% of the new vehicle market, at the cost of mid-sized sedans which lost market share.

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