Almost three out of every four consumers are interested in connected car technology, with demand for increased safety, early warning systems and smart navigation services, a new study by Telefónica has found.
The Spanish operator released its second annual Connected Car Industry report today, amid growing activity in the sector with moves from Apple and Google.
In order to attract the 71 percent of consumers interested in connected car technology, service providers must look to today’s mobile phone. Four out of every five consumers said they wanted the car of the future to provide the same connected experience they get from their smartphone.
Almost three out of four respondents (73 percent) said safety and diagnostic features were the most important in a connected car. More than half (54 percent) of UK drivers said they would be interested in using their car to calculate their insurance.
The survey also found more than three out of five (60 percent) preferred to access features in their car through the dashboard, particularly for safety, navigation and vehicle diagnostics.
Pavan Mathew, Global Head of Connected Car at Telefónica, said: “We can expect to see a gradual creep of connectivity into vehicles over the next few years but there won’t be an explosion over the next 12 months. The reason for this lies in the complexity of the challenges that connectivity is trying to address.
“While OEMs still have a way to go before they break out of their traditional role as a manufacturer and become a full, connected service provider, they certainly have a strong, trusted base to build from.”
Henry Bzeih, Chief Technology Strategist, Kia Motors, said: “I see a huge expansion beyond legacy telematics such as vehicle health reports, safety and security, crash notifications into active safety and automated driving aspects. I also think vehicle-to-vehicle communication is going to grow very quickly in the next five years. The beauty of that technology is that the communication protocol can be used for a host of other services beyond vehicle communication, so it benefits the wider infrastructure too.”