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

  • 5G or not 5G?
    April 16, 2019
    Just a few years ago, there was only one solution in terms of communications protocols for delivering vehicle connectivity. Now, road operators and vehicle manufacturers face choices – including a moral choice, perhaps. Jason Barnes looks at the current state of play There is a debate raging in the ITS world over future communications protocols. Asfinag, Austria’s national strategic road operator, has announced it will from 2020 be using ITS-G5 to support cooperative ITS (C-ITS) applications (‘First thin
  • Pan-European travel information is a reality – at a price
    November 26, 2013
    Pan-European, multi-modal traffic and travel information is now available, for drivers willing to pay for it. Jon Masters reports. Those able to afford a new car with all the latest options including internet connectivity can now look forward to getting detailed up-to-the-minute traffic information. They can also access multi-modal travel data, such as train times, plus weather forecasts and parking availability. Take the connected car to any Western European country and the system still works with live
  • Is DSRC progressive enough for future connected mobility?
    February 3, 2012
    Dedicated Short Range Communications technology, says Cisco's Paul Brubaker, is not by itself progressive enough to sustain long-term innovation in the connected mobility environment - and yet IPv6 and other developments remain largely ignored by policy-makers
  • Car to car communications a step closer
    December 14, 2012
    Vehicle manufacturers have targeted 2015 for the first cars to roll off European assembly lines fitted with operational V2X technology. They and their partners in the Car 2 Car Communications Consortium are confident of meeting the target, reports Jon Masters. Around three years from now vehicles should be appearing in showrooms boasting the capability of communicating with each other. Manufacturers will have started fitting the first proprietary car-to-car driver-aid safety devices and deployment of ‘vehic