Hyundai to leverage big data to connect with Indian customers

South Korean auto major Hyundai is planning to leverage big data to connect with its customers in India, amid the rapidly expanding Internet of Things (IoT) transforming the driving culture, a senior company executive said Thursday.

Installing wi-fi connected devices in a vehicle helps it in communicating directly with the Internet for GPS navigation, email and music streaming, among others.

"As every one says the future of industry now will be data, as a conscious manufacturer, we have also started looking at data in a very different way," Puneet Anand, senior general manager and group head for marketing, Hyundai Motors India (HMIL), said at the sidelines of the 13th edition of Autocar performance show here.

He said that the company has established a complete ecosystem of its customer data base or a master data management system.

"Hopefully as the times becomes ripe, we will be the first manufacturer to start not only a loyalty programme, but many other exciting programmes to help generate connectivity with our consumers on a real-time basis," said Anand.

The Indian arm of Japanese two-wheeler Honda Motorcycle and Scooter India (HMSI) was the first automaker to have launched a digital loyalty programme for its customers, in October.

"Loyalty programme is a very small pie of the universe. We should be talking of complete data management," said Anand.

Hyundai in India has already started working towards data platforms and connectivity, and as part of this, it will be coming up with a unique concept in its to-be-launched small SUV, he said.

"That will help us put our first step towards creating a data platform," he said.