IBM Think Digital 2020: Connected car services by Maruti!

At the IBM Think Digital 2020, there was an interesting presentation by Maruti Suzuki India Ltd (MSIL), the leading Indian automotives manufacturer, titled, the 'Big Roller: When the Auto Market-Mover Gets Connected!'

Introducing Maruti, Anupam Sharma, Associate Director, Industry Solutions Sales, Automotive Industry, IBM India Pvt Ltd, said that the perspectives provided will help the automotive sector in India, as well as the other industries as well.

Tarun Aggarwal, Executive VP, R&D, Electrical, xEV and Connected Systems, Maruti Suzuki India Ltd, said that traffic is a big issue in most of the metros across India. If there was an emergency response available in a vehicle, it can save lives. Also, if you are connected to the civic authorities, based on the traffic information and road conditions, weather conditions, etc., it will be great help in managing traffic. The customer expectation is that he or she should be warned, if there is something wrong with the vehicle.

There should be intelligent features built in, and you can control the car. You are also able to either control your house or multiple devices from the outside. Now, customers are wanting more convenience. Eg, they want their car ACs to run, before they get in the vehicle, so that it is cool. Gamification is an activity most Indians are involved in. It could also be a way to improve their driving.

Connected tech key

With connected technology, users also get an enhanced vehicle experience. Users love the technologies that we are offering to them. As they are connected, you are able to get many customer insights. Based on those insights, we are able to further improve the quality of the products and services. It is further enhancing the customers' user experience.

From an OEM perspective, we have been working on the unmet needs. Going forward, connected technology will be one of the key elements to provide the customers with an unbelievable experience.

Maruti Suzuki has been the leader in the Indian automotives space. It has over 50% market share, and a large user base of ~20 million people. We have been giving products that the customers really want. Similarly, IBM is a leader in cloud service, AI and analytics. With this partnership, we will be able to solve many of the challenges by the consumers. We will collaborate to provide a safe, convenient, and enhanced user experience for our customers.

The future connectivity solution that Maruti will provide should be much better than anything, and that which is available in the market today. We will focus on future connectivity. We will offer an advanced connected solution, along with a next-gen user interface (UI). The user experience is very important. The solution will be based on artificial intelligence and data insights. We will be offering better predictive maintenance, crash detection, along with driver behavior and diagnostics.

Thanks to Covid-19, we are hardly commuting these days. Let us all connect, collaborate and co-exist, and pass through these tough times.