Jaguar Land Rover Will Use Virtual Reality To Sell Cars

8 years ago - 19 October 2016, Carbuzz

Virtual reality appears to be the big thing right now that hordes of people are getting excited over.

And, to be fair, a lot of those expectations are probably down to it being a fairly versatile technology: for sure, video games are starting to capitalize on VR's burgeoning popularity, but there are other applications for this technology. Like, as Automotive News reports, letting prospective buyers look around a virtual version of the car they wish to purchase, a feature that Jaguar Land Rover has started to implement.

According to Jaguar Land Rover North America's CEO, Joe Eberhardt, the main aim is to introduce "virtual reality experiences" to the showroom floor, with the intention being for it to play a "very prominent role in the sales process". The desire to adopt VR in dealerships may seem odd at first but the move does actually make a lot of sense. After all, it's impossible for quite a few dealerships to stock every single model a car maker produces, so virtual reality head sets do allow potential customers to "look around" their desired car even if the dealership doesn't have one available. VR also has benefits in areas like sorting out color choices, trim levels and optional extras.

What makes this even more intriguing, though, is that Jaguar Land Rover has jumped on board the virtual reality bandwagon long before this particular revelation became known. For instance, Land Rover utilizes VR as part of its vehicle development process (pictured), with the ability to fine tune ergonomic details like interior control positioning and the accessibility of mechanical components being perhaps the core benefit of the system. Basically, Jaguar Land Rover already appears to have the technology in place for this to work, so expect to see VR functionality being rolled out across Jaguar Land Rover showrooms sooner than you may have first expected.