Set the connected car free

The connected car is arriving extremely quickly, its acceleration fuelled by the fact that it offers so many benefits to so many different parties. Consumers can feed their appetite for constant connectivity, interfacing via voice, email and apps, as their smartphone plugs into their vehicle to deliver a wholly personalised driving experience; urban planners and local governments benefit from smart mobility and reduced congestion; safety campaigners are promised huge reductions in traffic accidents; green campaigners get cuts in CO2 emissions through smoother traffic flows; insurance providers and rental services get to tailor their offerings and roll out new pay-per-use models.

As more and more services look to ride along in their vehicles, manufacturers have adopted a dual strategy towards the technology involved: on the one hand they are looking to develop their own, bespoke solutions that promise to keep them in control of the in-car environment and offer the promise of differentiation and monetisation in the future; on the other, they are partnering with smartphone manufacturers and mobile operators to develop collaborative platforms and deliver consumer-centred connected car services in the here and now. Manufacturers want a foot in both camps in part because it is far from clear which business model will emerge triumphant.

In my view, manufacturers and the auto industry as a whole need to stop hedging their bets in this way. The connected car faces many challenges in the form of safety and privacy concerns, insurance market implications and government regulation; but the greatest threat to its potential is the prospect of different industries and players failing to forge a common solution - and condemning drivers to cars that only connect with the systems of specific partner companies.

Connected cars can be smarter, seamless and safer; but above all they must be social. Manufacturers should focus on forging the strategic partnerships that can enable this data sharing - because that is where the single biggest opportunity lies for their businesses.

They stand on the threshold of a motoring age when individual car components are able to communicate levels of wear and tear via the web, enabling remote diagnostics, preventative alerts, more efficient servicing and significantly improved customer loyalty. And with a flood of data showing exactly how individuals drive, product development can deliver the precise features and designs that key customer segments need.

If cars are to become drivers of big data, then auto research also needs to take a new turn. Research agencies must respond by taking up the challenge, guiding manufacturers through the flood of real-time information and developing the analytics that will bring the most significant and most meaningful insights to the surface.

The author is Remy Pothet, Global Automotive Practice Head, TNS. Re-printed with permission. Link: http://blogs.tnsglobal.com/tns_automotive/2014/01/