Majority Of Consumers ‘Now Want Connected Cars’

The growth of connected ‘smart’ vehicles in recent years has led to them becoming a must-have purchase for many consumers, a report has found.

The study by Ericsson and AT&T Drive Studio found that over three-quarters of shoppers saying that they would consider connected car services an important feature in their next car purchase, with services such as in-car Wi-Fi, real-time navigation and music streaming named as some of the most desired.

The survey, which quizzed potential car buyers in five countries around the world, also found that 78 percent were prepared to delay a purchase by one year to buy a car with connected services from their preferred brand.

Connected

“This study confirms that drivers today are tech savvy and value services that improve their driving experience,” said Chris Penrose, senior vice president, Internet of Things, AT&T Mobility. “It’s great to see that more drivers understand what a connected car enables them to do. With this increased awareness, we believe you’ll see adoption of integrated wireless connectivity in the car continue to take off.”

Recent predictions from Gartner say that by 2020, the number of connected passenger vehicles on the road in use will be about 150 million, 60 percent to 75 percent of them of which be capable of consuming, creating and sharing Web-based data.

Several major companies have committed to working on developing connected car services as this consumer demand increases, including Google, which has introduced the Android Auto project, its bid to get the Linux-based mobile OS inside cars, as well as Apple’s CarPlay, a similar platform for iPhone owners.

“For the second year in a row, we are witnessing a growing trend where consumers in different parts of the world are not only increasingly aware of the term connected car, but they are placing greater importance on connected car features and services,” said Orvar Hurtig, vice president, Ericsson global services and head of industry and society at Ericsson.

“In addition to safety and infotainment features enabled by connectivity, automakers can also use the connectivity for over the air software updates and advanced downloadable engine configurations. For the consumer, this means that connected car services will open up the ability to add new capabilities to their car and enhance their driving experience for years after they purchase a connected car.”

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