The Next Step for Luxury Car Ownership: An Interview with Supercar Capsule Founder Andrea Sensoli
I have discussed before about how automotive companies nowadays develop extremely complex customer journeys to promote brand loyalty as the competition in the market gets fiercer and just building beautiful and fast cars is not sufficient anymore.
Customer-centricity is crucial in the modern luxury market where brands are not just setting trends for their customer base to follow but are expected to offer a deeper and well-rounded brand experience coming along with the product. Every company becomes a services company too, and this is especially true in the Luxury Automotive Industry. The complementary services are conceived almost as a ‘reward’ for entering that brand’s family.
In luxury automotive, this translates into extensive marketing mixes that include higher levels of personalisation with virtually endless possibilities, events, and increasingly sophisticated and immersive digital services.
But there is something new coming to enrich the entire supercar (or hypercar, or classic car) ownership experience, and this time it does not come from an automaker, but from an architecture and design company.
SUPERCAR CAPSULE
Supercar Capsule is the latest venture born from the mind of Andrea Sensoli and his partners. Already the founder of two successful architecture firms ASZ Architetti and Superfuture Design, Andrea has brought his expertise in the luxury market into a new and very specialised niche. Garages and Boxes for supercars.
However, these two terms, do not make justice to what Supercar Capsule realises and might look almost offensive because what these Italian Designers realise is closer to a proper art gallery or a stylish lounge than a simple storage area for cars.
At Supercar Capsule these spaces become highly bespoke display areas that do not serve just to showcase the parked car but can be whatever the client wants. A place to spend some leisure time with friends, to have fun, or indulge in some personal passion along with the one for fast and expensive cars of course.
The Supercar Capsule concept adds a completely new dimension to the Luxury Car ownership experience.
And there is more.
The level of refinement, research, and technology packed into this project are seriously remarkable, and I was lucky enough to have a chat with Andrea about his project, his experience so far, and his projects for the future. Check the full video of our interview below:
SOME CONSIDERATIONS
The automotive industry is at a crossroads and in the span of a few years is changing like it never has for almost 100. Electrification, autonomous driving, and digitalisation are the most important trends right now, and the overall direction of the market is clear by looking at the amount and industry of provenance of the companies trying to enter the renewed automotive business or have at least teased an upcoming electric vehicle. I am talking about Apple, Baidu, Foxconn, Huawei, LG, Sony, and Xiaomi to name a few.
Tech companies are taking over the automotive business, and there is a clear indication that very soon, software and connectivity could be the most relevant factors in the purchase decision.
According to a report by Bloomberg, three Chinese companies alone Baidu, Huawei, and Xiaomi are investing $19 billion in R&D on electrification and self-driving technology. Also, with a government extremely determined to dominate this new wave, at least in the domestic region, literally hundreds of companies are competing for a position in the largest car market in the world.
However, the luxury industry has and will continue to have some core differences from the wider market. The first-hand experience is surely one. So, despite the focus on the Internet of Things, and tech in general, a high degree of attention to a more personal experience will most likely remain of primary importance in luxury automotive. And here comes Supercar Capsule with its unique project.
BUSINESS AND POTENTIAL
Supercar capsule is a niche product from people that know very well whom they are talking to. They know the audience and understand the added value of their work. Unsurprisingly, it is in many ways remarkably close to that of the numerous additional services promoted by luxury automakers in the last few years.
Instead of focusing on the product itself, the attention is on the experience and how the capsule or the special projects mentioned by Andrea in the interview enrich the ownership experience. And again, much like in high-end automotive, the customer journey for this turnkey project starts even earlier with the wide range of options and high-tech features described, as highlighted in the firm’s value proposition chart.
The tailor-made experience is, of course, recognised as a strength in the company’s SWOT analysis and definitely one of the most important.
*Tables by Supercar Capsule
Many automakers are more vertically integrated than ever, and their marketing programs extend in every phase of the customer journey. From the initial specification down to the numerous after-sales services. An idea like the Supercar Capsule, enriching the whole ‘man cave’ side of the experience (as it is commonly referred to) is the perfect complement for the other services usually provided almost exclusively by the automakers selling the car in the first place. And this is even more important in the age of social media where wealthy car owners and collectors often become proper internet personalities.
The capsule and special projects described add the missing piece in the car ownership experience that is already so refined in many other aspects and opens also unprecedented new opportunities for future developments. With electrification, AI, and IoT, the cars which are increasingly connected could become even more integrated with the capsules’ advanced technology making the whole experience richer and more seamless.
As Andrea specified, their projects now are so personalised that it is difficult to think about scaling the numbers up, with the contributing factor of the company being very new. So, the capsules are currently aimed at proper collectors. The ones that normally own several (£ million plus) extremely limited editions. However, it is not difficult to imagine the potential of a more standardised concept that strikes the right balance between efficiency and customisation.
Could the capsule, and the time spent with the car at home become the next addition to the already highly articulated marketing mixes of high-end car manufacturers? After all, they are a perfect expression of the direction in the modern luxury market.
IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO SUPPORT ME AND THIS WEBSITE’s DEVELOPMENT
Latest articles
Related Articles
Unveilings
