According to a new research report from Berg Insight, by the end of this year (2010), 4.3 million passenger cars in Europe will contain an on-board telematics system. Stolen vehicle tracking is still the primary telematics application, followed by automatic emergency call, driver assistance and auto insurance telematics.
The Berg Insight report on the European car telematics market was quite positive. According to the Berg report, the global automotive industry crisis is behind us, as the market has been improving. Demand for aftermarket vehicle tracking solutions is now coming back to pre-financial crisis levels. The OEM market segment is showing signs of increasing activity. Many programs that were aborted in late 2008 have now been resurrected as car manufacturers are putting new focus on their telematics strategies.
“The penetration rate is still below 2 percent of the total market, so there is a huge untapped potential”, said Johan Fagerberg, Senior Analyst, Berg Insight. Across the world, new regulations and extended availability of services drive the demand for high volume, low cost telematics solutions. In Europe the eCall project has made progress and the vision of cars that automatically dial 112 after a crash is getting closer to becoming a reality. “Some vital technical standards are now in place and the EC has presented a realistic deadline for full-scale implementation by 2014”, continues Mr. Fagerberg. The largest remaining obstacle is now resistance from France and the UK, which are the only major EU member states that have not expressed their support for the initiative. Berg Insight projects that the safety system will generate 15 million new telematics-enabled cars per year once implemented pushing the total number of active subscribers to 28.7 million in 2015.
About Berg Insight
Berg Insight offers premier business intelligence to the telecom industry. The company produces concise reports providing key facts and strategic insights about pivotal developments in focus areas such as wireless M2M, Location-Based Services, mobile Value-Added Services and Next Generation Technologies.