Owning a car means you have to wash it, take it in for needed maintenance, and of course fill it with gas if you want to actually go anywhere. But those pesky chores no longer have to be part of the equation if you own a Volvo.
Volvo unveiled a new smartphone service — dubbed Concierge Service — during the Los Angeles Auto Show this week, aiming to take over all of the mundane tasks for car owners.
The service, which is an expansion of the carmaker’s On Call smartphone app, will be beta tested in San Francisco and connect about 300 owners of Volvo’s XC90 and S90 vehicles with local service providers.
Once a customer summons a service provider to their vehicle — either for a service call, fill-up, or wash — the technician will be able to access the vehicle with a single-use digital key that is time and location specific.
When the service is complete, the vehicle will lock and the digital key expires.
Volvo says that its own research has shown that customers are open to such services, noting that 70% of customers want services at their fingertips, while 56% want their car picked up for routine maintenance, and 49% would like to be able to have their car moved to another location when desired.
“Our approach is a simple one – we aim to make life easier by employing the latest connected technology in an easy-to-use smartphone app,” Anders Tylman-Mikiewicz, Vice President Consumer Connectivity Services at Volvo Car Group, said in a statement.
[via CNet]
by Ashlee Kieler via Consumerist
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