‘Eccentric’ Auto Enthusiast
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Buying a new car has always been a highly ‘physical’ experience. For the last century, visiting a showroom was an essential step in purchasing a vehicle. However, it is possible to provide a virtual experience that is not only immersive, but also informative and decisive. Eccentric Engine combines the best of human and virtual emotions using all senses – sight, sound and speech – to make vehicle purchases convenient, fast and enjoyable.
Eccentric engine
Existing dealership model with showrooms is not viable due to high cost of operations. This includes costs related to people, inventory and other overheads. Showrooms are slowly being transformed into mere fulfillment centers. There is a common belief that OEMs will not invest in showrooms in the next three years. In this scenario, the entire purchase experience will be in the virtual world.
Varun Shah, co-founder, Eccentric Engine on what future vehicle buying experience will be like, “The customer will go online to thoroughly explore the cars you like, in 3D and will be able to customize them to their liking. A sales consultant will join the, in the virtual world to assist you. If you are interested, the nearest fulfillment center will arrange a test drive for the customer at his/her doorstep while the signing and payments will all take place securely in the virtual world.”
Eccentric Engine has streamlined the process from lead to booking. The process usually took 35 days while using the technology provided by the company, the same process is completed in 9 days resulting in tremendous acceleration in sales. Another advantage of the technology is that showroom visits have reduced significantly, saving approximately four to five times the resources used as well as time. Automotive retail is different from regular SaaS and requires a thorough understanding of underlying systems. Many of these systems need to be upgraded in order for your platform to show its true impact. Eccentric engine is vertically integrated to have a deep play in this space.
“We are constantly investing in our core Graphics Technology. While there are many possibilities, which we have unlocked to transform virtual retail, it is focus on our core that keeps us ahead. We also contextualize our products heavily by very closely working and learning from all stakeholders in the ecosystem – OEMs, dealers and buyers,” said Gaurav Rane, Co-Founder, Eccentric Engine.
The company is expanding its presence into international markets and working to build the entire ecosystem that makes virtualization a reality for the industry.
“We’ve been profitable from Day 1. We don’t think you necessarily need to make a loss if you’re a technology company,” the co-founders said in a joint statement.
