Skip to main content

Growth of OEM telematics in new passenger cars

The latest research by ABI Research forecasts the global penetration of embedded and hybrid factory installed OEM telematics in new passenger cars to exceed 72 per cent by 2021. Growth will mainly be driven by key volume car OEMs in the US, European Union and China markets. Brands within these markets showing accelerated growth include GM, which expects to reach 12 million OnStar subscribers globally by the end of 2016, including its Opel brand in Europe and Cadillac in China; and Ford, which claims to have
March 3, 2016 Read time: 2 mins
The latest research by 5725 ABI Research forecasts the global penetration of embedded and hybrid factory installed OEM telematics in new passenger cars to exceed 72 per cent by 2021. Growth will mainly be driven by key volume car OEMs in the US, European Union and China markets. Brands within these markets showing accelerated growth include 1959 GM, which expects to reach 12 million OnStar subscribers globally by the end of 2016, including its 4233 Opel brand in Europe and Cadillac in China; and Ford, which claims to have already 15 million SYNC-equipped vehicles on the road worldwide.

“While lower cost hybrid approaches remain attractive to end users, a clear trend toward embedded solutions can be observed, as illustrated by Ford’s recently announced SYNC Connect,” says Dominique Bonte, managing director and vice president at ABI Research. “At the same time, embedded solutions are made more affordable through shared data plans, allowing customers to avoid purchasing a separate connected car data plan by adding allowing their connected cars to existing plans.”

The rising embedded solutions trend is resulting in fierce competition among carriers vying to capture lucrative connected car market share in an increasingly saturated mobile environment. While in the US, AT&T and Verizon are pitched against each other, Vodafone, T-Mobile, and Telefonica are competing in Europe. Meanwhile in China, major carriers are also actively targeting the automotive segment.

The strong expected growth of OEM connected car solutions  is due to a number of factors, which include eCall mandates in the EU and Russia, increasing user awareness about safety, and improved value propositions through additional services such as  UBI, preventive maintenance, and remote control capabilities via smartphones and wearables.

Additionally, ABI Research anticipates next-generation use cases, such as vehicles used as delivery locations and Car-to-Home applications, to start gaining momentum and increase the perceived value of connected car offers from car manufacturers like 609 Volvo, 278 Ford, 1731 BMW, and 1686 Toyota.

“Despite major market growth in OEM telematics, though, cyber security continues to remain a challenge,” concludes Bonte. “To overcome this obstacle, many car OEMs are implementing over-the-air software capabilities, which in itself is expected to become a major growth driver for vehicle connectivity in the future.”

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Around 420 million connected cars expected on the road in 2018
    May 9, 2014
    According to French think tank IDATE, there will be 420 million connected cars on the road by 2018, compared to 45 million in 2013, an annual growth of 57 per cent. IDATE attributes the development of the market to European safety regulations and manufacturers looking to identify new sources of revenue.
  • Connected mobility: top five solutions
    March 3, 2021
    Joseph Jackson Ngo Hong of Robert Bosch offers thoughts on the future of connected mobility
  • Thailand trying to attract eco-friendly car manufacture
    April 17, 2012
    Thailand's Board of Investment is trying to woo car manufacturers to the country. From its position as the world's No. 1 producer of one-ton pickup trucks, it claims Thailand is quickly emerging as a global hub for fuel efficient, eco-friendly car manufacturing, with Euro-4 emission standards and a fuel economy of nearly 50 miles per gallon. Six of the world's top auto producers have based their fuel efficient car production in Thailand in recent years.
  • Value of time – the key decider
    March 4, 2014
    The ‘value of time’ concept can be a vital decider in prioritising transport projects, as Lorenzo Casullo and Serbjeet Kohli of Steer Davies Gleave explain. How much do travellers value their time and how much would they be willing to pay for a better and faster transport option? For many years Steer Davies Gleave (SDG) has been collecting this type of information from thousands of people across the world as it researches travellers’ behaviour. And given the importance of this parameter for transport mo