How's this for a novel idea, using your mobile to tell you how to maximise your van's loadspace.
Dacia has unveiled an augmented reality "Boot Organiser" for its cars to help customers get the most out of their holiday packing.
Nestled within their "Dacia AR" app, Dacia is tackling the age-old conundrum of… fitting stuff in the back of your car.
The app, has apparently been designed to banish the pre-holiday packing panic, but we think it would make a nice addition to any maxed-out van driver's arsenal.
It allows users to virtually Tetris their luggage into an optimum configuration, making the most out of the load space. Should your worldly possessions not feature on the app's exhaustive list (which, we're told, handily includes skis and sleeping bags), you can apparently add your own digital representations.
It would therefore work wonders if you had Dacia's smallest light commercial vehicle, as the Dacia Spring Cargo dimensions aren't exactly massive.
You have to wonder if the app accurately reflects the likely outcome of trying to fit a virtual pallet into the Spring's approximately 620-litre cargo space.
While the app doesn't specifically cater to van-based load-lugging, one can envision the dedicated Dacia devotee diligently using the "add item" function to digitally cram in a surprisingly small consignment of artisanal cheese or perhaps a modest collection of tools, carefully noting the virtual dimensions against the Spring's actual, rather petite, dimensions.
While the world grapples with self-driving cars, Dacia is far more realistics in tackling the truly pressing issue of boot-based baggage logistics.
Whether it will truly transform the stressful art of van loading or simply provide a mildly diverting digital distraction remains to be seen. But hey, at least you can virtually fit those skis somewhere.
Almost certainly not in the Dacia Spring Cargo, mind you.
