Existing technology developed by a Finnish company, was utilized to collect the drive and location –data of the test drive cars. On top of that we designed a completely new service innovation in car-sales industry, which enables a salesperson to manage the whole test drive experience using their tablet computers. The service provides all the necessary functions from registering the drivers to collecting feedback. The customer experience at the dealership is thus more convenient and streamlined, as the registration is happening at the showroom or in any preferred location instead of the back office. But what truly revolutionised the test drive, was turning the individual test drives into online experiences. We designed a public website, where the individual test drive results can be viewed, shared and replayed on top of a google map view, with all the car’s meters playing along in real time. The meter showing the time driven with the petrol engine off was essential in proving to the public, just how economical the hybrid cars are. The first generation of the service is now spreading across Europe in Toyota dealerships. The service platform provides a solid foundation for building new campaign concepts in local markets.

THE RESULTS

All the massive and detailed test driving results and the feed-back of the test-drivers are now available to every interested car buyer who is seeking information on-line. The results were astonishing: the amount of Toyotoa hybrid car's test drives over doubled during first three months, nationwide. This was a marvellous result in this highly competitive area of the car market. And even more surprising was the fact that over 70% of all test drivers gave the highest satisfaction rating 5/5, labelled “I fell in love with driving again”.