The newest trend in the automotive industry will arrive at the end of 2016, thanks to Local Motors. The company is revolutionizing car design and production for the next generation through and open-source model and 3D printing.

Jay Rogers, CEO of Local Motors, Inc., and Elle Shelley, chief marketing officer for Local Motors, joined Paul Gillin on theCUBE, from the SiliconANGLE Media team, during IBM Insight 2015 to discuss the company’s vision for the future of car manufacturing and sales.

Proof of concept

Local Motors designed and built the first 3D production printed car at a tradeshow last year. Rogers explained how they designed, built and drove the car off the tradeshow floor to prove a point; it can be done.

“In the first construct, we did proof of concept for use and we printed in one shot to make a point that you could use complex structural devices and print it from the ground up,” Rogers said. “However, when we go to production, there will probably be several pieces we put together to print.”

Manufacturing mindshift

Local Motors collaborates with customers who share their best ideas and then it puts those ideas it into a vehicle. These customers are looking for latest technology delivered at a rapid pace. Ultimately, the goal is to enable upgrades in much the same way cell phones are.

The company strategy uses open-source design collaboration with a local manufacturing and distribution model. “There needs to be a mind shift in where to value of where car manufacturing lies,” he said. “If you believe the value of a car is in intellectual property, then you would keep it closed and develop in house and manufacture it in a proprietary facility.”

He continued, “We believe that there are enough things left to solve in automotive, given the pace of technology. We need more minds involved in order to find insight quickly.” The company’s theory is that more minds provide better insights. How it makes money will come from manufacturing, distribution and services.

Customer experience 2.0

Shelley said the company’s strength lies in tool-less manufacturing and providing the customer the experience of delivering “art to part” custom vehicles and stretching the limits of where they can go.

The company wants to enhance car buying by creating a “click, print and drive” experience through an online process of selecting options before they reach the manufacturing/sales facility. Once there, the customer can expect a destination experience.

How do you get in on the experience? The company is accepting pre-sale registration, and in the spring it will launch its retail campaign for 2016.

Watch the full video interview below, and be sure to check out more of SiliconANGLE and theCUBE’s coverage of IBM Insight 2015. And join in on the conversation by CrowdChatting with theCUBE hosts.

Photo by SiliconANGLE