Smart Mobility: Connected Cars Are Coming

“The connected vehicle is the foundation for fundamental opportunities and disruptions in the automotive industry and many other vertical industries,” James Hines, Gartner research director, commented.

“Connected vehicles will continue to generate new product and service innovations, create new companies, enable new value propositions and business models, and introduce the new era of smart mobility, in which the focus of the automotive industry shifts from individual car ownership to a more service-centric view of personal mobility.”

Connected car tech will see automakers provided opportunities to generate post-sale profits through sales of additional services and feature upgrades, while enabling innovations in related businesses, including insurance, car rentals, car and ride-sharing services, and electric vehicle charging.

Gartner additionally expects that future connected car applications will deliver a 150 per cent increase in demand for contextual information, such as image detection and geolocation, from 2016 through to 2020.

“As cars become more automated, they are being equipped with an increasing array of sensing technologies, including cameras and radar systems,” Hines stated.

“Many automobiles will use image detection as the primary means to identify and classify objects in the vicinity of the vehicle so they can provide more sophisticated responses and even have autonomous control.”