New Salesforce Automotive Cloud helps the industry deliver on the promise of connected vehicles and next-gen customer experiences

• 93% of auto industry leaders agree first-party data will help substantially improve the customer experience overall – whether during the vehicle browsing, purchasing, financing, or post-purchase phase. 
• Driver 360 is one of 13 industry-specific solutions, like Client 360 for financial services, Patient 360 for healthcare, and Education 360 for learning, that leverages the full power of Customer 360 and delivers a single source of truth for the automotive industry. 
• Industry leaders like Toyota Financial Services and Astara are using Salesforce today to deliver exceptional customer experiences. 

Today, Salesforce announced Automotive Cloud, a new product built specifically for automakers, dealers, automotive finance groups, and their customers. Automotive Cloud helps deliver exceptional service and experiences with Driver 360 across every real-time customer interaction, drives revenue through better lead conversion and collaboration, and leverages industry-specific automation, intelligence, and analytics for increased productivity and cost savings. 

The automotive industry is in the midst of a massive transformation as it rises to meet the demands of the digital age. Only 1% of automotive customers are fully satisfied with their car buying experience, and just a quarter of automakers and dealers believe their companies have adapted well to selling online. To build new revenue streams and fix the broken customer experience, the industry must tap into new opportunities created by new selling and servicing models, connected vehicles, subscriptions and partnerships, and the wealth of data these new offerings create. 

“The automotive industry is facing a new digital imperative amidst massive upheaval brought on by the rise of direct-to-consumer models and the dawn of the electric vehicle age,” said Achyut Jajoo, SVP & GM of Manufacturing and Automotive, Salesforce. “But with great disruption comes great opportunity, and companies accelerating into the digital-first future with technology like Automotive Cloud can gain a competitive edge while simultaneously future-proofing their businesses.” 

Enabling real-time personalization and intelligence across the entire customer and vehicle lifecycle – whether customers are browsing for a new car, making a purchase, looking for financing options, or servicing their vehicle — Automotive Cloud will power the industry through this period of historic transformation. With Automotive Cloud marketing teams can set parameters to automatically rank and route qualified leads to share the most high-touch prospective customers directly with the

customer’s local dealership. Dealer managers can view purchase agreements over time to track the performance of inventory and find out which dealers are meeting their forecasts and sales agreements to better manage inventory and vehicle allocation. Service teams can set up alerts notifying them when a customer’s lease is about to expire, or automatically remind their customers they are due for an oil change when their odometer hits a certain milestone. IT teams can create customized flows with just clicks to automatically alert every customer who owns a specific model that their vehicle has been recalled. 

Deliver best-in-class service and customer experiences with Driver 360 Driver 360 provides out-of-the-box solutions built with industry-specific data models and processes for the automotive industry to accelerate time to value.

• Driver Console provides service teams with a complete view of every customer interaction through continuous touchpoints and customized alerts, from car browsing and purchase history to service journeys. With features like Household Management, automotive companies can bring together their data to create a holistic picture of a household’s vehicle ownership and previous interactions, allowing dealers and other ecosystem partners to further personalize support, offers, and sales. 
• Vehicle Console gives any team member at an automaker, dealer or finance group easy access to comprehensive vehicle information – such as odometer readings, vehicle market value and real-time service and repair information. 
• Automotive Data Foundation, built on industry standards like the STAR Standard, is the backbone of Automotive Cloud and creates a trusted, standards-based data foundation that encourages interoperability, intelligent data protection, global regulatory compliance, and flexible data sharing. 

Drive revenue through better lead conversion and communication 

New selling models and the expectations of today’s digital-first customers means automakers and dealers need to collaborate more efficiently than ever before to drive sales, manage inventory, and provide better customer experiences. 

• Automotive Lead Management drives collaboration between dealers and automakers by enriching leads with unique customer and vehicle history, enabling them to route the most high-value leads straight to the individual’s preferred dealership along with a complete snapshot of their wants, needs, and history. 
• Dealer Performance Management makes it easy to analyze dealership performance by region and monitor lead pipelines. This enables automakers to target their efforts and better coordinate sales agreements, site visits, partner collaborations, demand forecasts, channel incentives, and more. 

Leverage industry-specific automation, AI, and analytics for increased productivity and cost savings 

Contending with rising prices, supply chain constraints, and heavy investments in electric vehicles, automotive companies need intelligent automation and AI, powerful analytics, and connected data to reduce costs, identify new revenue streams and drive more informed decisions. 

• Flow for Automotive provides intelligent automation with click-based configuration and integration tools to simplify the build and delivery of branded and automated experiences like vehicle order status updates or shipment delay notifications to help team members complete more tasks with fewer resources, boost efficiency, and deliver better customer experiences, at scale.
• Analytics for Automotive provides automotive companies insights to monitor and improve their business. It comes with purpose-built dashboards that provide a detailed overview of sales and business performance, customer and asset lifecycle, and revenue trends, to efficiently deliver faster and better business outcomes. 
• Salesforce Genie for Automotive helps automotive companies unify their customer and vehicle data across all channels and interactions, such as customer inquiries, service requests, and vehicle data into a single, real-time, customer profile. 

Industry leaders like Astara and Toyota Financial Services are using Salesforce to deliver better customer experiences 

• Astara offers a robust portfolio of products and services across car distribution, subscription mobility, connectivity, and data intelligence. “With Automotive Cloud, we will be able to increase the competitive advantage for our entire mobility ecosystem by connecting customer data and vehicle management together within the same platform,” said Antonio Rodríguez López, Chief Strategy and Transformation Officer at Astara. “This will allow us to deliver the best customer experience and to increase our customers’ lifetime value.” 
• Toyota Financial Services, is one of the nation’s largest and most highly-rated captive finance companies. “We are in a new automotive era that requires new innovations to provide our customers with the best experience possible,” said Angela Baker, Digital

Information Officer, Agent Experience & Digital Interactions, at Toyota Financial Services. “Technology like Salesforce’s Automotive Cloud is exciting because it will help us build more meaningful relationships with our customers” 

Salesforce Partner ecosystem extends the power of Automotive Cloud 

Salesforce has an extensive partner ecosystem providing unique expertise and solutions for the automotive industry. Global consulting partners Capgemini, Deloitte Digital, PwC, and Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), and regional consulting partners Arlanis Reply, Concentrix, EMZ Cloud Solutions, ForeFront, Kolekto, an OSF Digital Company, LTI and TechMahindra, specialize in automotive services including online buying, incentive management, aftermarket services and intelligent vehicles, and are prepared to implement these solutions tailored to specific customer needs. In addition, ISV partners – including CitNOW, Otonomo, Upstream – provide innovative pre-built apps on AppExchange, specialized for the automotive and smart mobility industry to help solve critical business challenges, create connected customer experiences and deliver innovative data-driven revenue streams. 

Salesforce has also partnered with Formula 1 to power and grow fan engagement for the most prestigious motor racing competition. Through the partnership, F1 is leveraging the Customer 360 to provide greater insight into and understanding of their global fan base to help inform behaviors, communication, and actions with their fans as they engage with the sport, while bringing them closer to the action than ever before. 

More Information 

• To learn more about Salesforce Genie, click here.
• To read more about Salesforce’s Trends in Automotive Report click here.
• To read more about what our partners specializing in automotive services are doing, click here.
• To read more about how Salesforce and Formula 1 are partnering to power and grow fan engagement for one of the most prestigious motor racing competitions, click here.

About Salesforce Automotive Cloud 

With the Driver 360, Salesforce Automotive Cloud delivers relevant, tailored solutions for automakers, dealers, and auto finance groups to provide connected digital experiences for employees and customers. 

Availability 

Automotive Cloud will be generally available globally on Oct. 17, 2022. 

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