The automotive IoT market, especially in North America, is driving towards tremendous growth according to a new market research report from MarketsandMarkets.
“The automotive IoT market is expected to grow from US 15.87 billion in 2015 to USD 82.79 billion by 2022, a CAGR of 26.75% during the forecast period,” MarketsandMarkets said in a statement announcing their new research research report “Automotive IoT Market by Offering, Connectivity Form Factor, Communication Type, Application, & Geography – Global Forecast to 2022.”
“Automotive IoT is internet connected vehicles which provide three types of communications such as in-vehicle, vehicle-to-vehicle and vehicle-to-infrastructure,” said Jadgish Rebello, Global Vice President, MarketsandMarkets. “Internet connection in a vehicle can be used for navigation, infotainment and telematics applications.”
The connected car, and now the burgeoning automotive IoT, began in earnest in 1996 when GPS technology was approved for civilian use, and General Motors launched OnStar in collaboration with EDS and Hughes Electronics. While in-car connectivity and in-dash phone calls are common place now, at the time OnStar was cutting-edge automotive technology.
As smartphones sold like wildfire after the introduction of the original iPhone, automotive IoT and connected cars took another leap as in-dash infotainment services progressed. Instead of using embedded software, consumers linked their phones via Bluetooth for in-car phone calling, music, and other services via smartphone apps.
Automotive IoT is quickly moving beyond just in-dash infotainment though. For example, Audi just announced their connected-car technology Traffic Light Information System. Vehicles with the technology will display an in-dash countdown for the next green lights in cities that have “smart” traffic light systems.
“The major factors driving the automotive IoT market include government funding for next generation vehicle-to-vehicle and vehicle-to-infrastructure communication technologies, growing demand for assisted and automated driving technologies, and consumers’ demand for smartphone features in cars,” Rebello said.
The broader automotive IoT market encompasses both commercial fleet and trucking logistics and consumer-connected smart car hardware and software. On the commercial automotive IT side, earlier this month Verizon announced the acquisition of Fleetmatics, a Dublin, Ireland based company, that provides web-based logistics software and solutions to help commercial truck and fleet operators manage their fleets efficiently.