Chinese Cars are Now Featuring Built-In Selfie Cameras to Attract GenZ Buyers

According to a report from Deloitte, it is estimated that there are 40 million Chinese Gen Zers planning to purchase cars over the next 5 years. What young consumers want in a vehicle can be much different than other older generations. An example of that is our recent article about the boom in micro EVs which GenZ find to be cute and trendy.

While many consumers are attracted to certain cars because of technologies such as autonomous driving and remote-control parking, there is a new term that is especially important among young car buyers – Selfie mode.

The Importance of the Selfie

I’m sure there’s no need explaining the prevalence of selfies, some may even call it one of the biggest phenomenons of the 21st century. If you have any friends at all there is a 100% chance your Facebook or Instagram page is constantly covered with other people’s selfies, or maybe even yours (no judgement!).

So yes, to those who are young and beautiful (or think they are), just like breathing, selfies are an important part of their lives. Especially young Chinese consumers who tend to show off every aspect of their lives on social media.

According to the Ultimate Intro to Chinese Social Media report published by Chinese social media agency KAWO, 76% of Chinese internet users post online frequently (compared to just 41% in the US) and 53% of internet users “share everything they do online” (compared to 28% in the US.)

Chinese car brands NIO and ChangAn leveraging the popularity of the selfie

NIO was the first automaker worldwide to incorporate a selfie camera right under the center rear view mirror in its flagship model ES8 and not long after it was also available in the ChangAn UNI-T.

Both models use a top-mounted camera “scientifically” positioned at the perfect 45 degree downward angle an arm’s length away from the driver and front seat passenger to give users the ultimate flattering selfie.

This feature is surprisingly useful, not just for documenting how hot you look while stuck in traffic or casually showing off your expensive designer bag in the backseat, but also for taking group pictures when going on road trips with family and friends, or for documenting your passenger passed out and drooling on the seat (which you can use for blackmail later on).

All jokes aside, it’s a pretty cool feature. The NIO ES8 allows for hands-off picture taking – users can activate the selfie mode through NOMI – NIO’s in-car artificial intelligence assistant that can control things like air conditioning window and the radio, etc.

They can also have NOMI send the pictures directly to their phone.

Currently only available from these two automakers, the selfie-mode feature is still in its infancy, but we predict it will take off quickly as it has already gotten quite a lot of buzz among young Chinese consumers.

The selfie phenomenon isn’t limited to Chinese consumers so we wouldn’t be surprised if we start seeing Western car makers implement it as well.