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 with 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 4th-generation 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 and align with the current Uconnect systems, yet some interesting upgrades have been added. They will provide a 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 with 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 their 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 have been working on self-driving vehicles for some time now, and 2016 might be a year for autonomous vehicles. However, Toyota has gone one step further, and the legendary Nippon car maker is not only emphasizing self-driving but also easy autonomous driving even in extreme driving conditions. Self-driven vehicles have shown good results in normal driving conditions. But when subjected to inclement weather conditions obscuring road signs and loan markings, the autonomous ones fail to analyse 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. It would lead to some ground-breaking car modifications.

Talking cars

Yes, you heard it right: Talking Cars! Auto manufacturers like Mercedes, Volvo & BMW are already testing systems that will enable vehicles to talk to one another on the 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 a warning signal to the 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 the increased 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, which is almost double the range covered by Nissan Leaf, its closest competitor. You will even have a touchscreen display inside the car with the 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 car makers understand your pain and 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 now is to ensure more illumination with your headlights, as would be the case with the new Mercedes E-Class, which sports 84 high-performance LEDs right at the 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 without dazzling the oncoming drivers. Ford and Vauxhall have also opted for these ultra-bright LEDs. 2016 is going to be a brilliantly “lit-up” year.

Change to the car paint palette

When it comes to new trends in car modifications this year, the discussion will stay incomplete without a mention of the latest styles in the 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 the beautiful harmony between nature and our lives, this palette flaunts a brilliant infusion of neutrals, pastels, and bright hues. A classy gemstone blue, Lapis, has been included here.

Mosaic

Just as the name suggests, this paint palette speaks of a wonderful collage of brilliant artisan patterns, prints, shapes, and collaborations. You can expect a versatile array of hues here, like Autumn, a distinct metallic orange that portrays fall foliage with colourful aluminium flakes.

Theorem

It’s a contemporary minimal palette that infuses rich brown, deep blue, and 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 the desert like Sunray, where you have a bright yellow decked up with sparkling glass flake.