Why Use Machine Translation in the Automotive Industry?

The auto industry crosses multiple continents, from North America to Europe and Asia. Roughly half the world is either driving a car or in the market to buy one.

Attracting potential buyers in all these regions calls for a robust translation strategy, one that needs to be implemented in a quick and affordable manner. It’s no surprise, then, that some of the leading automakers in the world are ramping up their machine translation spend.

Here are the most compelling reasons to use machine translation in the automotive industry.

Meet the Growing Demand for Localization

Many auto companies are focused on international growth, but they also understand the need to strike the right balance between a global strategy and a local approach. That’s why they’re turning to localization specialists to help them develop tailored communications for each of the markets they want to reach.

Localization means more than simply translating words into another language. It means adapting to the specific norms and standards in each market. For instance, a goal to translate your content into English, Spanish, and French may sound simple enough. However, there are differences between American English and British English. Mexico’s dialects differ from Spain’s dialects. French speakers in France and in Canada may not use the same slang.

While it’s always important to turn to localization experts, machine translation can streamline the localization process. As machines become more sophisticated, they’re better at understanding the linguistic differences within each language. They may also employ customized engines to retain memories of how you translated your messages for each of the countries you want to reach. This will make translations more precise and easier to replicate in subsequent translation projects.

Connect the Global Supply Chain

Auto production has been a global process over the last few decades. In recent years, the top five countries for automobile production have been China, the United States, Japan, Germany, and India. (Coincidentally, these are also the top five countries for automobile purchases.) However, the raw materials used to make the car often come from countries in Asia or Latin America.

In other words, the process of making a car is multinational, so it’s a multilingual process as well. Machine translation is an effective tool for automakers that regularly work with suppliers from different countries.

Keep Up with the Competition

The latest research predicts a significant growth in machine translation among automotive companies in 2022, by as much as $140 million USD. This is due to the investments automakers are making to reduce costs and speed up time to market. Using machine translation in your operations will provide a terrific competitive advantage.

Consider the many types of content automakers need to create for potential buyers and dealers:

• Owner manuals and user guides
• Technical specifications
• Contracts
• Dynamic websites
• Mobile apps
• Videos

Machine translation can manage content for all these channels. Whether you want to translate your website into multiple languages or enable chatbots to communicate with multilingual buyers, translation tools speed up the creation and distribution of content in all your target markets.

Streamline Digital Purchases

Driving is still one of the few things we can only do in person. Purchasing a car, on the other hand, has become a digital process.

Potential car buyers are using digital channels more and more to compare models, find a dealer, and even design and buy their dream cars. Since buyers are using the web to manage the buying process, automakers and dealers are using it as a selling channel.

As mentioned above, machine translation streamlines the process of translating websites. Automakers and dealers make their sites available in English and Spanish in the U.S., or in English and French in Canada. API and connectors allow these companies to quickly translate their websites within the platforms. Instead of spending weeks moving text from web pages to Word files and back again, connectors do it in a matter of days, or even hours.

It can also be used for chatbots and other customer support tools. When connected to a translation platform, these tools help sellers more efficiently answer questions and resolve issues raised by buyers who speak other languages.

It takes a lot of time and money to buy a car, so car buyers need access to a great deal of information before, during, and after the purchase. The demand for cars spans multiple languages, so automakers and sellers need a quick, efficient way to communicate on a global scale. To reach your multilingual market more effectively, consider implementing machine translation into your communication strategy.