Monetizing Connected Car

By 2025, connected vehicles will occupy a clear majority of yearly global sales, with 80% having a telematics system—only 20% of sales will be without connectivity.

A big buzz word in the automotive industry now is ‘connected car’—a vehicle which can optimize its operation and maintenance as well as the convenience and comfort of passengers using onboard sensors and Internet connectivity. General Motors (GM) introduced the concept of connected vehicles in collaboration with Motorola when they introduced OnStar in 1996 as a high-end safety feature on the Cadillac line. After GM, other automakers followed with their telematics systems in the late ’90s. Over the last 20 years, automakers have been looking to monetize data to and from the driver and passenger by offering customized solutions. The integration of smartphones and telematics systems with 4G wireless connections is rapidly increasing the content spectrum of the car. Location, traffic, and road data are valuable, and connected vehicles have been a useful source for collecting and using this data for over a decade for monetizing purposes.