This will be a big year for the auto industry if the rising sales figures are any indication (welcome back to the top spot, GM!), and accordingly, several brands have put the pedal to the metal for this year’s auto show season. Technology is a star player for the brands seeking to draw press, industry and consumer attention, but the experience is what’s keeping the heat on and helping them broadcast the message that they’re back in a big way and ready to roll into the new year. EM brings you the highlights of this year’s auto show circuit.

Kia Unleashes the ‘Hamstars’

At this year’s Detroit Auto Show, Korean automaker Kia Motors unveiled an augmented reality activation that ties into its popular “Party Rock Anthem” commercial. The technology, which is the centerpiece of the brand’s new exhibit for this year’s auto show circuit, is called “Close Encounters” and features the brand’s now-famous dancing hamster spokes-rodents, known as the Hamstars.

“Our old exhibit didn’t communicate our brand’s new direction,” says Michael Sprague, vp-marketing and communications at Kia. “You can’t just bring people to a booth and expect them to want to hang out there. They want to be entertained. This new booth is about conveying that we’re fun, youthful in spirit and technology-savvy.”

Kia invites attendees to climb up on a 20-foot-wide stage to control the Hamstars on a 22-foot by 35-foot screen. The animated characters dance in response to the attendee’s movements thanks to a motion sensing system. Each Hamstar can dance with an attendee for up to 30 seconds, but as soon as one Hamstar exits, another one joins the party if the attendee wants to keep dancing. Some attendees are staying on stage for upwards of an hour, Kia says. All three dancing Hamstars from the “Party Rock Anthem” commercials make appearances.

The experience was designed for one person to use at a time, but 10 to 20 dancers and dozens of onlookers often occupy the floor. The brand captures the videos from the experience and emails them to the participants, and it says more than 50 percent of those who participated have opted in to join the mailing list. Other activations at the show included an eco-driving video game where passengers could toss obstacles in front of the driver while she tried to be as efficient as possible, and a gestural interface that allowed attendees to virtually operate the assembly robot at Kia’s brand new Georgia plant (Agency: EWI Worldwide, Detroit).

GM Rocks Dubai

Chevrolet this past November executed the Dubai International Motor Show’s first-ever experiential vehicle launch. The Dubai show is typically locked down tighter than the plans for next year’s El Camino concept, but for the global launch of its Trailblazer SUV, Chevy needed to break with tradition. The brand unleashed a classic reveal experience on industry insiders and the automotive media with the help of show organizers to steal the limelight from competitors with the first-ever global launch hosted at the Motor Show.

The brand’s press conference and vehicle reveals incorporated full production values, as was expected by the crowd, building toward the climax: the big reveal… on wheels. Chevrolet worked with the venue, the Dubai World Trade Centre, to secure permission to drive the new Trailblazer and other vehicles into the press conference for a dramatic entrance, a first for the show, which traditionally allows no experiential elements.

“The mid-sized SUV is the fastest-growing segment in the Middle Eastern region and for the Trailblazer launch we needed to show that Chevrolet is going global,” says Samer El Kahlil, spokesman for GM’s Middle East Operations. “We didn’t want a static unveiling since every other brand does that” (Agency: inVNT, New York City).

Chrysler’s Ultimate Ride and Drive

The Chrysler Group this season brings its ride-and-drive expertise to bear on its entire family of brands with what it calls the Ultimate Ride and Drive Experience for show goers. The experience kicked off at the LA Auto Show where it enabled consumers to get behind the wheel and experience Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep, Ram Truck and Fiat vehicles first hand, all together in a course designed to show off each brand’s key features. The route was set up in and around the Los Angeles Convention Center area. The activation was a no-pressure environment, with no direct sales contact, but interested consumers were invited to take test drives and ask questions of product specialists on site. The vehicles available for a test run included: Chrysler 300, Chrysler 200, Jeep Grand Cherokee, Jeep Wrangler, Dodge Challenger, Dodge Charger, Dodge Journey, Ram 1500, Fiat 500 and Fiat 500 Cabrio.

“This is a unique experience for consumers because it allows them the opportunity to experience all of the Chrysler Group brands—Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep, Ram and Fiat—in one easy and convenient location,” says Phil Bockhorn, senior manager–shows and events at Chrysler Group. “Most auto show experiences enable attendees the opportunity to look at or sit inside a vehicle. For us the ideal consumer experience is their realization that Chrysler Group brands have truly achieved world-class status in terms of quality, technology, value and fun-to-drive performance.”

Scion Gets a Brand New Bag

Scion, the division of Toyota best known for its custom vehicles and art cars, has revamped its auto show booth, and it unveiled the hyper-connected event space at the LA Auto Show. The redesign is focused on technology and interactive experiences to mirror the brand’s vehicles. The exhibit’s stages are loaded with touchscreens and dynamic video walls to allow visitors and members of the press to review vehicle information and exclusive content.

A key interactive feature of the new space is the Scion Surface Experience (sX). Attendees are challenged to collect eight, dual-sided trading cards in the exhibit space, each of which unlocks images, videos and custom brand content when placed on the Surface. In addition to the digital product content, each card reveals new works from Scion-sponsored artists around the world and enables the guest to mix some tunes right on the surface, dj-style, by spinning the card like hot vinyl.

“Scion is all about leveraging technology and leading with whatever technology we can get our hands on,” says Steve Hatanaka, auto show and events manager at Scion. “The fact that our consumers can jump up on the stage, drop a card on the Surface and learn everything about our brand in one clean interface is super amazing for us” (Agency: George P. Johnson, Auburn Hills, MI; Technology: JUXT Interactive, Newport Beach, CA).