The next wave of Connected Cars will require increased OEM and supplier collaboration / Connected Car commerce platforms and solutions are vital to the full customer journey using pre-integrated services and applications as a cloud service

Frankfurt, March 12, 2015 – Connected Car services are on their way to becoming one of the major business drivers for the automotive industry in Europe and present an opportunity for establishing a sustainable position in the global market. To achieve this, even closer collaboration between manufacturers and suppliers, and also between automotive and IT companies, will be necessary. This is the finding of a recent Pierre Audoin Consultants (PAC) multi-client study led in cooperation with management and technology consultancy BearingPoint as premium sponsor.

According to BearingPoint, connected services will be mainstream automotive offerings by 2020, with 80% of new vehicles connected.

From a technology point of view, the market is currently shifting from in-car connectivity to car-to-x connectivity, and companies are going to put a stronger focus on the design and provision of third-party services.

Matthias Loebich, Partner at BearingPoint and firm-wide Automotive leader

The study highlights that the market for Connected Car solutions has already reached a ‘second wave’ of maturity. The first generation of Connected Cars consisted of solutions such as infotainment and environmental information services which are already rolled out and operated by manufacturers and services providers. The second generation, currently being in development and testing phases, will see services such as security, after-sales and driving assistance. The launch of OnStar in Europe marks a step change in the growth of connectivity as both volume and premium brands launch services with embedded solutions.

BearingPoint worked with leading OEMs to launch the first wave of connected services, which have primarily focused on overcoming the technical challenges to embed core connectivity. OEMs and suppliers have had to navigate a complex journey to launch Connected Car: differing standards; legislation and launching agile digital services within a 7-year waterfall vehicle development programme. The study shows the key challenge for the next wave of maturity is to create new business models packaging multiple Connected Car services and creating a holistic customer experience.

Sarah-Jayne Williams, Partner at BearingPoint for Connected Car

The market place to enable seamless bundling of services

To be a leader in the next wave, OEMs and suppliers must work more closely together to deliver and bundle their services, and package, sell and provision them into vehicles seamlessly. Connected Car commerce solutions, such as those based on the Infonova R6 digital services & ecosystem enablement platform, play a vital role in addressing the end to end customer journey using pre-integrated services and applications as a cloud service. They provide the market place with a seamless bundling of services for the customer from a community of partners, such as information, entertainment, telco, insurance and automotive services, whilst maintaining separate billing, financial and profitability reporting in the back-end. As well as simplifying customer payments, the R6 platform automates the complexity of different supplier charge models. In this way the Connected Car leaders will not just deliver innovative services but will also drive collaboration and innovation across the Connected Car ecosystem to create leading customer experiences.

Information on the study

For the study “Connected Car in Europe” PAC conducted a survey among 250 CxOs in European automotive companies (in France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden and the UK) with more than 50 employees. The infographic and an executive summary of the study are available for free download at: https://www.pac-online.com/connected-car-europe-strategies-and-technologies-connected-driving

About Pierre Audoin Consultants (PAC)

From strategy to execution, PAC delivers focused and objective responses to the growth challenges of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) players. PAC helps ICT vendors to optimize their strategies by providing quantitative and qualitative market analysis as well as operational and strategic consulting. We advise CIOs and financial investors in evaluating ICT vendors and solutions and support their investment decisions. Public institutions and organizations also rely on our key analyses to develop and shape their ICT policies. Founded in 1976 and headquartered in Paris, PAC is part of the CXP Group, the leading European research and advisory firm in the field of software & IT services. For more information, please visit http://www.pac-online.com and PAC’s top analyst views: http://www.pac-online.com/blog

About BearingPoint

BearingPoint consultants understand that the world of business changes constantly and that the resulting complexities demand intelligent and adaptive solutions. Our clients, whether in commercial or financial industries or in government, experience real results when they work with us. We combine industry, operational and technology skills with relevant proprietary and other assets in order to tailor solutions for each client’s individual challenges. This adaptive approach is at the heart of our culture and has led to long-standing relationships with many of the world’s leading companies and organizations. Our global consulting network of 9,700 people serves clients in more than 70 countries and engages with them for measurable results and long-lasting success. For more information, please visit: www.bearingpoint.com

Press contact

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