In-Car 4G LTE: Can you explain it to a Customer?

An October 2014 Autotrader/Harris study of 1,033 motorists indicated that 48% of them would walk away from a vehicle purchase if the infotainment system were hard to use. With in-dash systems seemingly becoming a thing of the past with the advances of CarPlay and Android auto, what does the future hold for in-car technology? The answer clearly has become onboard high-speed internet. In a report back on August 27th, we told you that by the end of 2014, 30 GM vehicles are expected to be equipped with 4G LTE hotspots. However, what is the engine behind all of this innovation? The company that will make in-car internet more common in North America is U-blox. A Swiss company has developed the worlds smallest auto compatible LTE module. This means automakers can now utilize this component as they plan the creation and rollout of 4G LTE compatible vehicle systems. The component, called the TOBY-L200 is a voice/data modem that could be a great use to automakers looking to keep up with the ever-mobile consumer. Nikolaos Papadopoulos, President of U-Blox said, “Our robust voice and data module delivers powerful 4G LTE performance with 3G and 2G fallback in the smallest package on the market. With Category 4 performance of 150Mbps speed, it is also the fastest LTE modem on the market.” According to a company release the TOBY-L200 unit is certified on all major North American 4G LTE networks.

Which companies stand to make the most of innovations such as the TOBY-L200? As mentioned previously, General Motors has made a major push to be a leader 4G LTE vehicle innovations, however Audi is not far behind. Their 2015 A3 will have an embedded “Audi Connect” 4G LTE system. It will give drivers the opportunity to use the built-in center screen in their A3 to access the Internet at much faster speeds. But it won’t be free. The system is set to work with AT&T and charge A3 owners $500 for 30 GB of data over the course of 6 months. This will serve as an upgrade from the 3G T-Mobile Audi Connect setup in Pre-2015 models. No word yet on whether or not Audi may employ the L200 system used by U-blox, but it could be a possibility down the road as the system just because available in North America.

With in-car infotainment and 4G LTE internet speeds steadily moving from a future automotive goal to approaching reality, what will dealers need to do in order to adapt? The answer is training. In his 2014 keynote address at DSES 2014, DrivingSales Founder and CEO, Jared Hamilton, focused on how important it is to have a well-trained sales staff. With ever-evolving technology, there will need to be a constant evolution of training dealership staff. Part of Hamilton’s keynote involved gathering interviews from car shoppers. One of the shoppers said that the salesman’s knowledge matters, a lot.”I find that a lot of the people who work at the dealership aren’t knowledgeable about what they’re selling and that’s a huge thing,” the shopper explained. “I think that when you’re knowledgeable you come across confident and you build a trust factor with that customer.” Building that trust factor is going to come with first building up the knowledge of the staff. If dealership employees do not know what 4G LTE is, how would they be able to explain it to a customer? Hamilton further explained in his address that dealership employees should see themselves like Apple store “Geniuses.” He explained that those Apple employees know their products inside and out, rather than just how to make a sale. Do you know how to explain in-car 4G LTE systems to your customers? How do go about training your employees on particular vehicles? What are you going to do at your store to keep your staff trained on the latest vehicle innovations?