IPG Mediabrands Malaysia’s Ansible develops an automotive first with SDAC Ford’s chatbot

IPG Mediabrands Malaysia’s mobile and technology agency Ansible has pioneered Malaysia’s first automotive chatbot in collaboration with Sime Darby Auto Connexion’s (SDAC) Ford.

As a key mobile technology agency for Sime Darby Auto Connexion, the sole distributor of Ford in Malaysia, Ansible built the chatbot to act as the first touch point for sales enquiries and customer service. The purpose of the chatbot is to provide a more engaging and simplified query response system for consumers.

“We are proud to work with Malaysia’s leading mobile technology experts Ansible in bringing our first chatbot to life. The chatbot will assist our customers whenever and wherever it’s personally convenient to them,” said Queenie Tham, Head of Marketing and Communications, Sime Darby Auto Connexion

Managing Director of Ansible, Manu Menon (pictured) said, “The chatbot’s unique features of being mobile friendly and accessible anywhere and anytime will offer consumers 24/7 support, and we hope to bring consumer engagement in the automotive industry to a higher level. Gone are the days where customers tolerate listening to lounge music while waiting for telephone support staff to attend to their queries.”

The chatbot is powered by an artificial intelligence engine that is able to learn and provide greater levels of support and information over time. The advantage is that the chatbot is able to have individually tailored conversations with thousands of users simultaneously. Over the next few months, the chatbot will be able to provide a richer experience to the user, such as full-screen galleries, rich product specification menus and fun facts about new products.

Through this technology, Ansible was looking to help Sime Darby Auto Connexion’s Ford transform the conversation with potential customers. The chatbot also aims to significantly drive sales and after sales support as it provides immersive consumer interactions. The team fast-tracked the development from proposal to launch within a period of 6 months.

“Consumers will be more willing to ask the chatbot questions they might ordinarily find too intimidating or too trivial to ask a salesperson, thus enhancing the overall customer experience,” Manu commented further.

The chatbot is currently in Phase 1, and available in English on the Sime Darby Auto Connexion website, www.sdacford.com.my. By the end of the year, the team aims to offer Malay and Chinese language options to complete the service as these three key languages will cater to the respective customers and prospects.

This is not a first for Ansible, as globally the agency has worked with Kia to develop the well-received Kia Nirobot.