The telematics market appears to be improving, according to two new studies, but the auto and wireless industries need to focus on offering specific, selected services to take advantage of the market.
According to results of a new J.D. Power and Associates survey, 63 percent of owners renew the telematics service that comes with their vehicles. Such numbers lend credibility to an industry that has seen its fair share of struggles.
However, new research from Allied Business Intelligence Inc. shows that manufacturers should drop entertainment services and focus on safety and security.
“When telematics was first conceptualized, OEMs had grandiose visions of sophisticated, cutting-edge vehicle-centric services that provided intrinsic value to customers and OEMs alike,” said Frank Viquez, ABI’s director of automotive electronics. “For the most part, players lost sight of this and mistakenly went on to push infotainment-type services during what was then the height of the dot-com age.”
ABI predicts the total global OEM telematics market will climb to more than $14 billion in 2008 from more than $2 billion in 2002.
