TL;DR:

  • Volvo, BMW, Hyundai, and several others now use VR test drives commercially, with Volvo’s stationary XR experience showing measurable impact on purchase confidence
  • AR vehicle configurators (on phones and tablets) have moved from novelty to a standard digital sales tool — BMW’s, Audi’s, and Jeep’s configurators are used by millions of buyers annually
  • The constraint isn’t technology: it’s creating and maintaining high-quality 3D vehicle assets that stay current as models update

Selling a car is fundamentally a spatial problem. Buyers want to feel the scale of a cabin, see how a colour looks in different lighting, understand legroom and visibility — things photographs struggle to convey. Virtual and augmented reality address this directly. The automotive sector has invested heavily, and 2026 has a clearer picture of what’s working commercially versus what’s still experimental.

AR Configurators: The Mainstream Success Story

The most broadly deployed automotive XR application isn’t VR headsets — it’s the AR configurator on a buyer’s own smartphone. You’ve probably seen these: open an app, point your camera at your driveway or garage, and see a full-scale model of the car you’re considering, in the colour and trim you’ve selected.

BMW’s AR Visualiser, Audi’s online configurator with AR mode, and Jeep’s Configurator with AR placement all work on standard iOS and Android devices using ARKit and ARCore respectively. These aren’t demos — they’re in active use. BMW has reported that buyers who use the AR configurator spend longer in the configuration process and are more likely to proceed to a test drive booking than those who use static imagery alone.

The reason isn’t magic: seeing a vehicle at 1:1 scale in your own environment reduces the uncertainty that photographs leave. “Will this colour look too bright?” “Is the SUV actually as big as I think?” The AR tool answers these questions more effectively than photos.

The limitation is asset quality. A convincing AR vehicle model requires accurate geometry, high-resolution textures under different lighting conditions, and accurate PBR (physically-based rendering) materials for paint, glass, and trim. This takes significant 3D production work and needs updating every time a model year changes exterior details. Manufacturers who’ve invested in this pipeline properly get a product that looks convincing; those who haven’t get an AR experience that undermines rather than builds purchase confidence.

VR Test Drives

VR test drives are more ambitious and less universally deployed. A few approaches have emerged:

Stationary immersive experience: The buyer sits in a physical seat (or a simulator rig) wearing a VR headset and takes a virtual drive. Volvo has used this in dealerships and at auto shows with their XC90 and EX90. The experience covers scenarios the buyer chooses — urban driving, motorway driving, off-road. Volvo’s research found that buyers who experienced the EX90 in VR reported higher purchase confidence specifically around range anxiety and charging decisions, which are known friction points in EV sales.

Motion platform VR: A step up from stationary, a motion platform moves in sync with the virtual driving. This adds physical sensation that makes the simulation more convincing. McLaren has used this at events; the cost and logistics mean it’s primarily an event and flagship showroom tool rather than a standard dealership installation.

Home VR via Meta Quest: Several manufacturers have launched standalone Meta Quest apps that let buyers experience vehicle interiors and short drives from home. The resolution and processing power of Quest 3 is good enough for convincing interior exploration. The limitation is that standalone headset VR doesn’t convey vehicle dynamics well — you don’t feel acceleration, braking, or road surface through a consumer headset in your living room.

Interior Exploration and Configuration in VR

Separate from the test drive use case, VR is more compelling for static exploration — particularly for buyers choosing between trim levels or for commercial fleet buyers evaluating whether a van layout meets their operational needs.

Sitting in a VR representation of a vehicle interior at 1:1 scale addresses questions that matter in the purchase decision: can my tall colleague fit in the back seat? Can I reach the controls comfortably? Does the panoramic sunroof feel spacious or claustrophobic? How does the cargo area accommodate the things I need to carry?

Mercedes-Benz has used VR interior walkthroughs in dealerships for the EQS, which has a particularly distinctive interior (the full-width Hyperscreen dashboard) that photographs struggle to represent. Buyers who saw the interior in VR before visiting the dealership came in with more specific questions and higher conviction either way — a better quality sales conversation.

Challenges Limiting Adoption

3D asset pipeline cost and maintenance: A photorealistic 3D vehicle model takes weeks to produce and needs updating with every refresh. Manufacturers with large product ranges can’t easily keep a full VR-ready asset library current. This is the biggest operational constraint on broader deployment.

Content distribution to dealerships: Deploying headsets to hundreds or thousands of dealerships, keeping software updated, and training sales staff to use it confidently is a significant operational undertaking. Manufacturers who’ve managed this well (typically through dedicated XR departments, not general IT) see better results.

Consumer headset friction: Asking a customer in a dealership to put on a VR headset is a non-trivial ask. The headset form factor itself is still a barrier for many potential buyers. The shift to lighter, less obtrusive headsets (the Meta Quest 3S, the pending lighter form factors from Apple and Samsung) should reduce this over time.

Simulator sickness in VR test drives: VR driving experiences trigger motion sickness in a meaningful percentage of users, particularly those who aren’t regular VR users. Stationary experiences at lower speeds are safer; high-speed or cornering content at scale carries a real risk of ending the customer experience unpleasantly.

Where It’s Heading

The near-term trajectory is more AR, not more VR. AR configurators on existing devices work, scale, and don’t require new hardware. The investment in asset quality and AR development has direct commercial payoff.

VR is maturing into a premium dealership and event tool for specific high-consideration decisions: EV range confidence, interior specification for fleet buyers, and flagship model launches where the experience is part of the brand statement. As headsets become lighter and more consumer-acceptable, the friction of the dealership VR experience will decrease.

Smart glasses — when they arrive at commercial scale — are the natural endpoint for AR configurators. Walking around your actual car of interest, or a display model, with real-time AR overlay showing alternative colours, trim options, and pricing would be genuinely useful. The hardware isn’t there yet at mass market price points, but the content pipelines being built now for phone AR will translate directly.