Selling cars faster with artificial intelligence

  • Jun 9, 2022
  •  – 3 min read

“AI” seems to be on everybody’s lips these days. Two simple characters immediately signaling advanced technology and innovation, not least in the automobile industry. 

So, what is it, where did it come from, who invented it? Many people have been involved over many decades, but more than once two American scientists, Marvin Minsky and John McCarthy have been named “The Fathers of AI”. In the 1950s they described AI as “any task performed by a machine that would previously have required human intelligence”. Later, AI researchers at Google have defined it as “a system’s ability to adapt and improvise in a new environment”.

In the vehicle industry, AI is being applied in self-driving cars, 360-degree perception, manufacturing systems, optimized distribution, pricing, and many other areas. 


Identifying the most attractive features

When Phyron introduced its Video+AI solution in 2019, it was a virtual revolution. Long before that, video was universally recognized as the most effective sales tool, but only for one car at a time. OK for the manufacturers’ generic “branding videos” but not for sales presentation of each new or used car with their unique features and selling points. Considering the time and cost required for manual production it was not a realistic alternative.

Phyron’s Creative Director Jens-Peter Sjöberg has extensive experience from international film and video production: 

“Everybody in sales and marketing knows that video is an outstanding way to connect at an emotional level, that they remember it better than text, and so on. All that is true, but I would like to take this discussion one big leap beyond that. Today, buying decisions and business relations at all levels are becoming much more dynamic and therefore more emotional. Partly because everything happens and evolves so much faster now. There is simply less time for logical thinking so people rely more on their gut feelings, both privately and in business, also when facing major buying decisions. And buying a car is certainly more emotional than most other decisions to buy.” 

This is well in line with the findings of Daniel Kahneman, Professor emeritus in Psychology at Princeton University, Nobel laureate and author of the international business bestseller Thinking, fast and slow.  


Leading towards a closed deal

The dealers register the essential data and takes a few pictures of each car, as they would do for their ads anyway. Phyron gets access to that data and the rest is 100% automatic.

Too often, AI is applied mainly as “a cool thing” and not 100% rooted in strategic customer needs and potential business benefits. In contrast, the fundament of Video+AI is a professional video production and Hollywood-level visual effects. Ai is used to 1) improve and optimize the quality of the car photographs provided by the car dealer, 2) identify the right features, and 3) automatically develop a catchy, relevant, informative video leading towards a closed deal. 

Caption: Daniel Kahneman, PhD *

*  American Psychologist Daniel Kahneman, PhD was awarded the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences for his groundbreaking work, applying psychological insight to economic theory, particularly in the areas o judgment and decision making under uncertainty. 

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