Within five years almost every vehicle shipping in the U.S. will be a connected car.
That’s the word from Dominique Bonte, an analyst who follows the telematics space for ABI Research.
Telematics used to be a term the telephone companies used to describe applications involving any equipment that was outfitted with connectivity capabilities. The favorite example was a connected soda pop machine that could tell a remotely located computer when it needed to be restocked with, say, Dr. Pepper. Today, however, the term telematics is used to describe various applications in the connected vehicle space. And, as it turns out, this newer variety of telematics is even more effervescent.
Most car manufacturers now offer telematics in at least their high-end models, and there are 15 million to 16 million connected cars on the road in the U.S. today, says Bonte of ABI Research. That’s not even 10 percent penetration, he adds, which means telematics has a good long runway ahead of it.
Telematics is expected to race down that runway in the next few years, during which time Bonte says all the major vehicle manufacturers are expected to expand connected car features across their product lines.
“So we are on the verge of telematics becoming a mainstream service,” he says.
General Motors popularized telematics years ago with the introduction of its OnStar service, which calls emergency services if motorists are in a wreck, they need roadside assistance, or their vehicle is stolen. Since then, virtually all the other vehicle brands have jumped on the telematics bandwagon, and that bandwagon now also includes in-car applications that can help drivers reach their destination, find parking, enjoy streamed music, and participate in social networking in a slightly modified (usually involving voice control) way, notes Bonte. Vehicles can also now have their own onboard Wi-Fi hotspots, which can support four to five passengers now that higher-bandwidth, 4G cellular networks are now widespread, he adds.
Edited by
Maurice Nagle
