BMW i among the first automotive brands to offer an augmented reality app using Apple’s ARKit with iOS 11

Munich. Millions of consumers worldwide can now interactively explore BMW i cars via the BMW i Visualiser App for iOS. Having been the first automotive brand in the world to offer customers an interactive, 3D augmented reality product experience earlier this year, BMW i is now setting the pace again as one of the first car brands to make use of Apple’s ARKit, which launched with iOS 11 in September. The app can be downloaded onto any iPhone from 6s/6s Plus or newer; it also works on Apple’s iPad Pro or this year’s Apple iPad.

“Our products are highly emotional vehicles which customers need to experience,” commented Andrea Castronovo, BMW Group Vice President, Customer Centric Sales Strategy, MPM & Process Management. “With this app, we’re able to bring the next best thing to an actual product into people’s pockets – they can just take out their iPhone and see what their dream car would look like on the driveway or how it would fit into their garage,” he continued.

Having downloaded the app, available now on the App Store, customers can explore their ideal BMW i3, i3s or i8 as a life-size, interactive visualisation. They can change the colour, wheel trims and interior at the touch of a button – they can even open the doors and climb into the visualised car, making this a truly interactive experience. “We know that almost all our customers inform themselves about our products online before they visit the showroom and they often do this on their iPhone or iPad,” said Stefan Biermann, Head of Sales Innovations. “So this is the next logical step – rather than just reading about the product, they can go some way to experiencing it. Once they’re happy with their visualisation, they can save the data and a picture to share on social media or, in selected major markets, they can transfer from the Visualiser directly into the online configurator to fine-tune their ideal BMW i vehicle,” he added.

The app is available in 21 languages from Czech to Turkish and the direct link between the BMW i Visualiser and the online configurator is available for 17 BMW i markets, with more markets to be added in the future. This new, extended functionality is an example of seamless, multi-channel customer communication, which transforms what until now has been two dimensional pictures and text into a three dimensional customer experience.

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With its four brands BMW, MINI, Rolls-Royce and BMW Motorrad, the BMW Group is the world’s leading premium manufacturer of automobiles and motorcycles and also provides premium financial and mobility services. As a global company, the BMW Group operates 31 production and assembly facilities in 14 countries and has a global sales network in more than 140 countries.

In 2016, the BMW Group sold approximately 2.367 million cars and 145,000 motorcycles worldwide. The profit before tax was approximately € 9.67 billion on revenues amounting to € 94.16 billion. As of 31 December 2016, the BMW Group had a workforce of 124,729 employees.

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