Infotainment for the cars of the future – Customer Experience will be the new brand!

I was recently watching a Hollywood movie set in the 80s where the lead couple set out on a long drive, the man slips in an audio cassette into a car tape player, and the woman’s favourite song starts playing. A smile spreads across her face and she leans back listening to the song as the man drives the car down the highway. Car entertainment has come a long way since then and with connected technologies and AI expanding the in-car experience, has made the move from just entertainment to complete infotainment, a convergence of entertainment and information that provides audio / visual entertainment, navigation and smartphone connectivity.

 This drive towards car infotainment is fostering a need for solutions and products that deliver the ultimate riding and luxurious experience to driver and co-passengers while letting them engage and interact with their surroundings. This enhanced in-vehicle experience will be delivered by integrated infotainment system interfaces like audio/ video interfaces, control elements like touch screen displays, button panel, voice commands, and more. Modern day in-vehicle infotainment (IVI) systems connect with all of the smart automotive technologies like ADAS systems, V2X connectivity solutions, telematics devices, smartphones, sensors amongst others and integrate them with each other to provide a great driving experience.

 With the abundance of new technologies and innovation around us, success lies in building the right product and predicting the right time for its launch. While OEMs and their suppliers are investing billions in automotive R&D for the car of the future, an entire network of technology companies are building novel tech platforms for car infotainment such as Nokia, which is licensing its proprietary mobile technologies including Wi-Fi, 3G, 4G, and the latest 5G for building interactive solutions.

 For the future connected cars, customer experience will be the new brand. Companies like Audi, Nissan and other carmakers are taking car entertainment to the next level building creative tools like talking cartoons, virtual reality experiences like swimming with whales to keep passengers of future autonomous vehicles entertained. At the same time, the passenger also gets information in real-time about time and distance to location through projected talking cartoons. Recently, we have noticed that many OEMs in India have started offering features such as 5G internet connectivity on its cars and over-the-air software updates to attract and retain customers.

 Research reports suggest that the market for IVI (in vehicle infotainment) is estimated grow at a CAGR of 11.8% and reach around USD31Bn by 2022. In the next five years, Europe is expected to have highest concentration of connected cars making it most lucrative market for OEMs, its supply partners and auto-tech companies.

Ireland with its strong cluster of innovative tech companies has emerged as a hotbed for development of connected car technologies. To build a solution for connected and autonomous cars new players would need software, sensors, algorithm development, machine learning experts, data centres and products that comes from the technology and automotive sector, all of which has huge presence in Ireland making it attractive location for collaborations and strategic partnerships. Many International and domestic Irish tech companies working on research around AI/ML, blockchain and IoT in Ireland have developed proprietary globally scalable products for the connected vehicle market. Global technology companies like Microsoft, IBM, CISCO, General Motors, Google, and Valeo who are working on cars of the future and various tech solutions for auto sector have chosen Ireland as their strategic base for their European operations.

 Ireland boasts some of best global research institutes that frequently partner with industry specialising on key elements of automotive technologies. Centres such as the CONNECT specialise in 5G, IoT, Smart sensor and connected vehicles; TSSG focuses on V2X, IoT and safety of Autonomous vehicles; Insight deals into transportation and smart mobility; Tyndall focusses on Antenna design and ICT- all hot topics in the connected car technology space.

 The IVI market is influenced by mobile consumer electronics technology and with India having the second largest number of smartphone users and the fourth largest car market offers immense opportunity for the global IVI market and is on the radar of global automakers to implement cost effective new age mobility solutions. While a fully autonomous vehicle on the road may be a machine of the future, OEMs and their supply chain partners will need to begin investing in developing products with engaging features. For Indian OEMs and components makers or technology companies, Ireland is an attractive strategic base to develop and commercialise connected automotive technologies for the western market and at the same time work on achieving customisation and economies of scale for price sensitive markets like India.