Modern vehicles are data-generating machines.
According to this McKinsey study, connected cars can produce up to 25 gigabytes of data per hour, encompassing information from vehicle sensors, infotainment systems, telematics, and more .
From battery health to brake alerts, Driver Drowsiness to Distraction Detection , playlist picks to over-the-air firmware updates —vehicle data is more than a stream of bytes.
It is a real treasure trove paving the way for safer, connected and personalized In-Vehicle experiences .
Decoding The “Actionable” Data Conundrum
If you think of it 25 gigabytes of data/ hour is a staggering volume of insights flowing in real time—from every turn of the steering wheel to every playlist change. . .
And if you think deeply about this, the data holds immense potential for automotive OEMs, like you, to enhance operations across your value chain.
And yet, here’s the paradox: Even with this abundance of data, most automotive OEMs are still struggling to harness it effectively.
But what deters them?
When legacy systems slow them down, data silos don’t talk, and customer insights exist as scattered records — it is unfair to blame the tech alone.
It’s the organizational inertia and lack of a strategy that seals the deal on slow progress.
Perhaps you’ve felt this too? . . . .
What does this result into?
- Missed opportunities in customer engagement
- Innovation bottlenecks, &
- Stagnating revenue growth.
Have you ever wondered what can be done to fix it?
This is where automotive CDP can be a mission-critical enabler.
Before we venture much deeper, first let’s understand what exactly automotive CDP is.
What Is Automotive CDP?
An automotive Customer Data Platform (CDP) is a unified platform that collects, cleanses, integrates, and activates customer data from touchpoints across automotive channels into a single, persistent customer and vehicle profile.
“What Do Jane Austen and Automotive CDPs Have in Common?”
Did you think that there was an error here.
No, no, we are here to help you connect the dots, which is what you should be doing in this connected world.
In Austen’s world, human connections unfold slowly—over walks, letters, and tea.
In the automotive world? They evolve through touchpoints: from test drives and dealer visits to infotainment screens and driving behaviour analysis.
And just like any great novel, a customer’s journey isn’t linear—it’s layered.
An Automotive Customer Data Platform (CDP) doesn’t just gather data. It weaves a narrative, a connected one that can help you create personas & churn stories around them, just like how authors like Ms. Austen do.
“You can’t fix customer experience in silos. A CDP fixes the silos.”
This pretty much sums up what automotive CDP can do for the auto segment.
So, automotive CDP can be considered to be a Customer Data Platform solution purpose-built for the automotive industry.
For automotive OEMs, this means:
- Having a unified view by consolidating data from all possible sources.
- Resolving identities and stitching journeys across channels.
- Enabling real-time personalization, predictive data analytics, and omnichannel engagement.
In this era of software-defined vehicles where buyers demand digital-first journeys, automotive CDP isn’t just a marketing tool—it’s a strategic necessity.
What are the Challenges OEMs Might Face Without an Automotive CDP?
Are you amongst the enterprises that are still relying on legacy systems? You’re not alone.
In our conversations with leading auto OEMs, we have observed that some of the pertinent hurdles they face have a pattern that includes:
- Difficulty resolving customer identity across systems and journeys
- Disparate Legacy systems & Data management inefficiencies
- Inefficient Data Quality & Validation process and hence instances of data duplication
- Limited Personalization
- Wasted media budgets due to untargeted messaging
- Slow campaign rollout times
How Does Automotive CDP Work?
So, what really happens behind the scenes of an automotive CDP?
Here’s a simplified view of how the platform orchestrates your vehicle and customer data into strategic advantage:
- Data Ingestion
- Identity Resolution: Making Sense of Fragmented Journeys
- Profile Enrichment
- Segmentation & Intelligence
- Who’s likely to convert?
- Who’s due for service?
- Who might churn?
- Activation Across Channels
You can’t optimize what you can’t see.
The first job of an automotive CDP is to pull together every possible digital impression across the customer and vehicle lifecycle—everything from browsing behaviour to driving patterns.
At this stage, the CDP ingests data from all possible sources—structured and unstructured.
When we say data sources, think of your CRM systems, Dealer Management Systems (DMS), call center logs, dealership POS, mobile apps, websites, and even in-vehicle infotainment (IVI) systems.
Now that you have gathered the data from multiple sources, the automotive CDP will start stitching together these seemingly unrelated data points to build a unified view of your customer.
Let’s imagine that you recently had a new website visitor signed up as Anita, who casually browsed SUVs on your auto website.
She compared models, checked specs, and even saved a few favourites.
What happened next?
A few days later, someone walked into Showroom X for a test drive. The system logged her as a new walk-in.
Then last week, a new vehicle with VIN 1HG was registered to a someone named Anita S.
Now here’s the catch: without a Customer Data Platform (CDP), these moments seem to have originated from three different people –
One online visitor. One test drive. One purchase.
But with an automotive CDP, all those touchpoints come together.
It becomes clear that the SUV browser, the test-driver, and the new vehicle owner are all the same person.
This unified identity graph bridges online and offline data, helping sales, marketing, service, and support teams act in sync—not in silos.
Without this identity graph, your marketing team talks to Anita like she’s four different personas. With it, everyone—sales, service, support—can act in sync.
Once identities are resolved, the automotive CDP enriches each profile with more context: service records, vehicle telemetry, past transactions, campaign responses, and even driving patterns (via vehicle telematics).
A name and email alone don’t say much.
But information like “Anita drives 800 km/month, prefers city routes, skipped her last service, and has shown interest in connected features” is definitely helpful.
Now that you have rich profiles, the CDP uses AI/ML to group customers dynamically into smart segments—like “urban SUV explorers under 35” or “frequent service skippers with warranty expiring soon.”
You can use such insights in customer segmentation to run predictive models to forecast:
Insights don’t just sit in dashboards—they’re routed to marketing automation tools, dealer CRM systems, service apps, and sales enablement platforms.
For example, equipped with this data your marketing team can send a push notification to your customer like:
“Hi Anita, your SUV’s service is due – book now with a 15% discount.”
Or you can send an alert to the dealership: “Warm lead alert—Anita spent 7 minutes customizing the EV online.
So, the insights from automotive CDP also offers a wealth of opportunity for cross-selling to your customers, after understanding and even predicting their requirements. For your sales team, this might sound like a dream!
Why Embitel’s Automotive CDP Services Stands Out
At Embitel, a proud member of the Volkswagen Group ecosystem, we bring domain expertise, scalable infrastructure, and deep integration experience with automotive systems.
We collaborated with a leading automotive OEMs to create a data-backed phygital customer journey powered by custom automotive CDP solutions. Checkout the detailed case study here.
Our domain-specialized automotive CDP solution is built with the OEMs in mind:
- Made for OEMs & marketers
- Identity Resolution & Data Hygiene
- Compliant, secure, and globally trusted
- Boost virtual trials and test drive signups
Designed with automotive in mind, our solution plugs into your existing tech stack — CRM, telematics, ERP, PIM, dealer systems, analytics tools — without disruption.
We resolve identity overlaps, eliminate duplicates with advanced deduplication, and offer a real-time 360° customer view from first website click to post-service loyalty.
GDPR and CCPA compliance has been built in. As an ISO27001:2013 certified organization, Embitel’s ISMS policy safeguards the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of your customer data.
With behavioural, transactional, technical, and geographic data in one place, you can segment smarter, personalize better, and convert faster.
It’s Time to Stand Out with Automotive CDP at Your Disposal :
The automotive industry stands at a digital inflection point. As per this McKinsey report 95% of vehicles will be connected by 2030.
This means that automotive OEMs will sit atop a goldmine of behavioural and technical data—but only those with the right CDP in place will turn that data into loyalty, growth, and innovation.
With the volume and variety of customer and vehicle data growing by the second, a purpose-built automotive CDP is no longer optional—it’s mission-critical. . .
With Embitel as your automotive CDP implementation partner, shift into high gear and drive customer-first growth.
Backed by the legacy of the Volkswagen Group and having accelerated the digital transformation journeys of several global auto brands, Embitel understands the end-to-end of automotive — from software-defined vehicles to connected mobility ecosystems.
📩 Let’s talk: sales@embitel.com
