According to a new research report by Berg Insight, the number of telematics service subscribers using embedded systems will grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 36,4% from 26,5-million subscribers at the end of 2015 to 170,2-million subscribers at the end of 2021.
Moreover, Berg Insight forecasts that shipments of embedded car OEM telematics systems worldwide will grow from almost 13,8-million units in 2015 at a CAGR of over 25,1% to reach 52,8-million units in 2021. In Europe, uptake will increase rapidly due to the eCall initiative in the EU and ERA-GLONASS in the Eurasian Customs Union, scheduled to be fully implemented in 2018 and 2017 respectively.
Connected car services have evolved from being a differentiating factor to a common feature with a high attach rate among the premium car brands and are rapidly becoming increasingly common in mid-range vehicles.
GM’s OnStar was launched 20 years ago and is today the market leader worldwide with more than 7-million paying subscribers and well above 10-million active users in total.
BMW includes telematics hardware as a standard feature on all its cars sold in 43 markets worldwide and has the second largest user base with 3,4-million equipped vehicles. PSA is in third place and manages 1,8-million connected vehicles in Europe.
“Carmakers and car owners are starting to see the benefits of connected car services as a growing number of new vehicles are equipped with the technology,” says Jonas Wennermark, IoT/M2M Aanalyst at Berg Insight. “However, the really exciting development will happen when we move from telematics services as an add-on to actually design a vehicle with connectivity in mind.
“Starting with Tesla, several car makers have introduced vehicles with large dashboard touchscreens and the ability to receive Over-the-Air updates. “We have also seen Volvo and Bentley launch interesting concierge services for the premium segment, such as fuel-delivery to the customer’s vehicle,” Wennermark adds.