Connected Vehicle Sales Grow by 20 Percent in 2021
Connected vehicle sales will grow 20 percent in 2021, with a 10.4 percent compound annual growth rate (CAGR) between 2020-2026 according to ABI Research, a tech market advisory group.
2020 new car sales dropped 15 percent, although it was less than anticipated. Consumers rallied at the end of 2020 and the first quarter of 2021, catching automakers with their days supply down. End users have become more demanding about their infotainment systems. According to ABI, there’s strong interest in connected vehicles, an opportunity OEMs are missing.
Hyundai’s partnering with Nvidia to standardize AI-based infotainment systems is one example. In ABI’s study, connected vehicles are reshaping the industry with more powerful infotainment systems. Nvidia, Qualcomm, Xilinx, NXP, and TSMC have platforms with greater AI-based functionality, and headroom for updates and apps.
Vehicles with connected infotainment will grow by 23 percent in 2021, returning to pre-pandemic levels, ABI claims. They say this is due to increased penetration in emerging market regions. The Ford and Google alliance shift to Android’s OS will double its penetration in 2023 and 2024. Google’s advantage occurred due to poor embedded system reviews, and existing smartphone dominance.
At present, connected vehicle subscriptions are not profitable. Sensor data marketplaces, OTA updates, and in-vehicle commerce could monetize connectivity during the vehicle’s lifecycle. To realize this potential, OEMs need to offer more compelling user experiences to increase touch points with their embedded systems, ABI advised.
Tesla, Mercedes-Benz, Volvo/Polestar, Harman, Visteon, and Aptiv are OEMs and tier ones heavily investing in connected vehicle technology. ABI Research’s connected cars report was the source. ABI provides research and guidance to technology firms, innovators, and decision makers, focusing on technologies that are changing industries, economies, and work forces. Their aim is to empower clients to stay ahead of the market and their competition, a lofty goal in the midst of chip shortages and divergent platforms.
[Image: Cadillac]
With a father who owned a dealership, I literally grew up in the business. After college, I worked for GM, Nissan and Mazda, writing articles for automotive enthusiast magazines as a side gig. I discovered you could make a living selling ad space at Four Wheeler magazine, before I moved on to selling TV for the National Hot Rod Association. After that, I started Roadhouse, a marketing, advertising and PR firm dedicated to the automotive, outdoor/apparel, and entertainment industries. Through the years, I continued writing, shooting, and editing. It keep things interesting.
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Just got 2021 CX-5 GT, it came with connected service complimentary for 3 years and cellular data for 3 month. Reading thru Mazda's agreement for usage is a little scary but it's fun to have the iphone app to control the car from anywhere, get alert if a door is open and so on.
The newest of my three vehicles is "connected" and it suffers from the same type of software bugs that plague smart phones and computers. Driver profiles fail to load half the time; the connected phone app that's suppose to send GPS directions to the vehicle doesn't work most of the time; the last software update changed the UI and broke a frequently-used feature; the voice input is unreliable. Hell, it even forgets my home address sometimes. And this is all on vehicle that cost nearly $90K. Color me unimpressed.