A modern solution for modern problems
If you’ve ever bought your car at a dealership, you can easily understand that such an experience can be frustrating for some people. Dealers must sell cars; that’s their M.O. and how they keep the lights on. But as players like Amazon and Carvana help streamline the buying experience and automakers like Rivian, Lucid, and Tesla sell cars directly from the manufacturer, dealers face a unique 21st-century challenge against a car-buying public looking for the best car for the best deal.
However, the days of strategizing bargaining tactics and leaning on the promises of free floor mats, free tire rotations, window tints, oil changes, and extended warranties are over, at least in China. One of its state-owned auto manufacturers has evolved the salesperson into an AI-powered being beyond the human form.
Chery
非常感谢, Mr. Roboto
To expand its reach beyond cars, Chinese automotive giant Chery has devised a very ambitious plan to enter the field of humanoid robotics, among other projects. Its latest project is the AiMOGA [pronounced eye-MOH-gah], a life-size humanoid robot that visually resembles fictional futuristic bionic beings like Mega Man or Metroid.
Chery says that the AiMOGA Robot results from collaboration with international tech giants, including the storied chipmaker NVIDIA, Huawei, and Horizon Robotics. The tech behind the robot is designed to make it as lifelike as possible. Apart from the realistic face, hair, and cool gear it wears, the AiMOGA Robot can walk and gesture with its bionic limbs and use its in-house “CheryGPT” and DeepSeek AI modeling to understand natural language patterns and respond when spoken to.
Though manufacturers like BMW have been able to experiment with humanoid robots to take over repetitive tasks in the production of its cars, Chery is putting them to use on the other side of the car supply chain. In a car dealership setting, the AiMOGA robot is tasked with being a salesperson selling Chery vehicles.
In a demonstration video, the AiMOGA robot is shown giving a prospective customer a full 360-degree tour around one of Chery’s new cars, highlighting key talking points like its styling and interior and even remarking, “Very impressive, right?” to the customer.
Currently, the AiMOGA robot is employed as dealership help at Chery 4S dealerships in Malaysia. However, Chery’s robots were recently shown at Auto Shanghai, where they guided attendees around the brand’s cars, danced, and engaged in “interactive challenge games” with curious participants.
Chery
Final thoughts
As someone who has had varying experiences with all kinds of salespeople at dealerships, I can understand why this could be a welcome or unwelcome sight for customers at the dealership. Cars are a big purchase; sometimes, buying one can take much more than a single day. I remember years ago, one of my friends went back and forth between several dealerships for the car they currently drive in a process that took a month.
However, as we evolve into the 21st century, we can visit doctors and veterinarians and buy everything from our groceries to our cars virtually from a computer screen. As we continue to enable doing more from our couches and in our pajamas, the digital future will remain a digital curiosity.
