The automotive world is an ever evolving sector with new trends coming in with each passing year. Auto biggies from all over the world are constantly experimenting to further innovative additions in car manufacturing to ensure a smarter and more advanced experience. The year 2015 wrapped up with the promise of some thrilling cutting edge inputs in car modifications for 2016. Here is a brief on the latest trends that you would encounter in the current automotive scene.
4th Generation Uconnect systems
Apple (Carplay) & Google (Android Auto) will play a big role in car modifications with smartphone integration, courtesy state of the art 4th genre Uconnect systems. The Uconnect systems are not new in the market but this year you will find more technologically advanced solutions. The basic look will stay the same in tune with present Uconnect systems yet some really interesting upgrades have been added on. These imply better responsive touchscreen & enhanced performance through faster startup time & improved processing power. The leading car makers mostly support both the Apple & Google systems while some of them are compatible to either one of them. Accessing your smartphone apps from the car is to get a bit easier now.
Gesture-based interface for infotainment display
This is surely one of the most welcome trends in car modifications in 2016. High end car makers like Volkswagen and BMW are all in for an improved gesture-based auto infotainment interface – which would enable drivers to control the car functions with just a wave of hand. Now, it will simply take one gesture of your fingers to change the radio station or skip a track! BMW was the first to introduce the trend in 2015 and more and more automakers are happily following suit.
Self-driving vehicle
Ford, Kia & Mercedes are all stressing on self-driving vehicles for sometime now and 2016 might be a year for autonomous vehicles. However, Toyota has got one step further and the legendary Nippon car maker is not only emphasizing on self-driving – but easy autonomous driving even on extreme driving conditions. The self-driven vehicles have shown good results in normal driving conditions. But when subjected to inclement weather conditions obscuring road signs loan markings, the autonomous ones fail to analyze the situation & call for manual driving. However, Toyota is working with robotic experts, seasoned computer engineers & bright professors to ensure smarter self-driving vehicles that will be able to understand & drive accordingly as per typical weather conditions. Needless to say, it would lead to some ground-breaking car modifications.
Talking cars
Yes, you heard it right- Talking Cars! Auto honchos like Mercedes, Volvo & BMW are already testing systems that will enable vehicles to talk to one another one road. The interaction part will be conducted through in-built SIM cards & NFC chips. This way, if one car encounters a setback on a dangerous bend, it will send warning signal to central server & it would in turn alarm all the other vehicles nearby about the possible danger. The main goal here is to equip the cars to sense potential obstructions even before the humans.
Electric vehicles will be more popular
Electric vehicles have been in the automotive industry for quite some time now and the current trend is towards an increasing popularity of these eco-friendly wheels- with more and more leading car makers steadily opting for an EV-centered architecture in their latest cars. For example, Chevrolet has applied the EV architecture in its brand new Bolt which will cover a massive range of over 200 miles that is almost double of the range covered Nissan Leaf, it’s closest competitor. You will even have a touchscreen display inside the car with navigation system to locate the nearest charging station while travelling.
Remote-control parking
It’s one thing to drive in glory along the highway and another thing to park your wheels in tricky congested areas. For most of the happy drivers, parking actually sucks. The legendary auto makers understand your pain hence have come up with an easier remote-control parking wonder. The remote-control parking edge from BMW would have the car smoothly reversing into & pulling out of spaces just on its own. The one by Mercedes helps with all these and also assures handy assistance in perpendicular parking. High end cars with remote-control parking would be out by the final quarter of 2016.
Smarter headlights
The trend is now to ensure more illumination with your headlights as would be the case with new E-Class from Mercedes which sports 84 high-performance LEDs right at front- in place of 24 deployed in the present model. The goal here is to have more light paving the road as you drive on but then without dazzling the oncoming drivers. Ford & Vauxhall have also opted for these ultra-bright LEDs. 2016 is going to be a brilliantly “lit-up” year.
Change in car paint palette
When it comes to new trends in car modifications this year, the discussion would stay incomplete without a mention of latest styles in car paint palette. Yes, black, white & silver still dominate and the newer palette is more of a series of innovative & versatile innovations of these colours. The trendiest options to do the rounds this year are:
Hi-breed
Inspired by a beautiful harmony between nature and our life, this palette flaunts a brilliant infusion of neutrals, pastels & bright hues. A classy gemstone blue, Lapis, has been included here.
Mosaic
Just as the name suggest, this paint palette speaks of a wonderful collage of brilliant artisan patterns, prints, shapes & their collaborations. You can expect a versatile array of hues here like Autumn, a distinct metallic orange that portrays fall foliage with colorful aluminium flakes.
Theorem
It’s a contemporary minimal palette that infuses rich brown, deep blue & red as the accent shades for refined neutral hues like Crisp Grey- which pronounces a highly impressive graphite presence highlighted with metallic green.
New spirit
It brings in warm sunset shades of desert like Sunray where you have a bright yellow decked up with sparkling glass flake.
