NEW TECHNOLOGY CHALLENGES CAR DEALERS -- AND BUYERS

NEW TECHNOLOGY CHALLENGES CAR DEALERS -- AND BUYERS

New cars are growing so complex — and owners manuals so voluminous — that automakers are encouraging dealers to add staff geeks or go high-tech to explain features.Lexus will announce today that it is creating two new positions at each of its 230 dealers around the country: a "vehicle delivery specialist" to show buyers how the cars work during purchase and a "vehicle technology specialist" to troubleshoot snafus after the sale.The learning gap underscores how automakers have become engaged in a tech war, seeing it as a key way to make their brand stand out.

Lexus' rivals in luxury cars, which typically have the most complex tech systems, are coming up with their own approaches to walking customers through the nuances of infotainment, navigation and communication systems, not to mention how to set the air conditioning:

 Cadillac. General Motors' upscale brand has developed an iPad app explaining use of its new CUE infotainment systems, coming first on the XTS sedan. The app is for dealer use now, but customers will be able to get it, too, at the Apple App Store.

  Infiniti. Salespeople use iPads to show customers technology features and coach them in their use.

    BMW. The German automaker uses a website to tell clients whether their smartphones can be paired with their cars but relies on the old-fashioned approach for the rest, making sure salespeople are fully versed in models' innards.

Sure, there are owners manuals, which nowadays can run to more than 800 pages, but "We're finding customers won't take the time to read through that," says Vince Salisbury, a Lexus dealer training manager. "They've paid for the features on their car, and they should be educated on how they work."

Lexus took the action after seeing how successful some dealers have been in hiring specialists just to handle technology issue so that customers don't have to rely on salespeople or service advisers.

One dealer, Sewell Lexus in Dallas, recruited its tech specialist, Alex Oger, from a local Apple Store. His mission: "How to take this car that has so many capabilities" and explain features "so it's something the customer wants." He says many have a "eureka moment" when they figure out a task.