So I managed to sneak down to the Sydney International Motor Show last week to get a peek at some of the digital installations at this year’s show. Having spoken to a few brands earlier in the year around social media integration, RFID, Kinect and Interactive displays, I was quite keen on seeing what some of the major brands would come up with. Needless to say I was quite underwhelmed. Apart from having more iPads than an Apple store and more simulated driving games than Timezone, there really wasn’t anything impressive this year.

Taking a look at Motor Shows internationally we had seen Renault’s and Hyundai’s RFID Facebook mash up at the 2011 AutoRAI Motor Show, Nissan’s Kinect Experience at the 2012 Chicago Motor Show and 3D Projection Mapping seen last year by several brands including Lexus, Audi and Hyundai, unfortunately nothing came even close at this year’s show.

So what did we see?

Several brands had driving simulator games, not quite sure how this builds brand awareness or promotes any new products but it was the dominant feature at this year’s Motor show.

Toyota had a nice set up.

Toyota also had several iPads setup with their Toyota Playground app which was quite a nice experience, the kids loved it.

Toyota Playground App

More driving games

Perhaps all the driving simulators had something to do with Forza’s appearance at this year’s Sydney Motor show, but let’s face it; we all love a good driving game!

Forza Stand at the 2012 International Motor Show

Lexus probably had the most interesting screen set up, other than the monster screens that Ford had set up, Lexus just looked slick, it may have had something to do with the machine in front of it.

The Lexus stand at the 2012 International Motor Show

Custom iPad apps where EVERYWHERE, most apps allowed users to navigate car models, view car specifications and review pricing options. The odd entry form also made an appearance.

Holden had a nice interactive video competition, allowing users to jump into a car and record themselves singing out loud to go in the draw to win some cool prizes. Videos were pushed to a micro site where users could view other videos and share them on social networks. Holden’s sing out loud promotion was one of the only installations that reached beyond the show to those at home, helping share an experience from the Motor Show with those outside the walls, and with multiple videos with over 100,000 views, that’s not a bad reach. Nice Job Holden.

Holden’s Sing Out Loud Competition

For some of the world’s most innovative car brands, I really thought we would see much more innovation around the installs this year or at least some replication of international setups from previous shows.

I guess we will just have to wait until the 2013 International Motor Show.