Consumer Interest in the Connected Car Continues to Climb

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In keeping with current smartphone saturation, consumers are increasingly relying on connected apps for a variety of purposes in the car. Be it for straightforward connectivity or infotainment, use of these apps is having a negative impact on embedded solutions. A new report from the In-vehicle UX (IVX) group at Strategy Analytics "2017 Connected Car: Consumer Expectations Clashing with Reality", surveying consumers in the US, Western Europe and China, has found that as demand for connected apps continues to rise, consumers are increasingly frustrated by the poor execution of apps that use in-car HMI.

Key report findings include:

• At least half of consumers in all markets now feel it is at least somewhat important to be able to access smartphone apps through their car's HMI. In Western Europe and China, interest is even more pronounced for access of smartphone apps through their car's on-board speech recognition system.
• In all markets, key segments consider embedded access to connected apps to be very important to their purchase decision. Even if current offerings fall short, consumers are strongly indicating their desire to access connected apps through their vehicle's controls and displays.
• The vast majority of consumers in the US and Western Europe prefer a mobile-device-based method for accessing and paying for in-car connectivity. However, in China and among certain segments in Western Europe, support is relatively strong for car-based accounts for mobile data.

Derek Viita, report author and Senior Analyst commented, "Consumers express varied amounts of frustration with touchscreen and voice-based in-car systems which clearly lag behind mobile devices. These trends are concerning on multiple levels. It means that automakers are not providing compelling in-car solutions for connected features; and because the mobile device provides a better experience, consumers are tempted into dangerous habits such as use of mobile handsets while driving."

Added Chris Schreiner, Director, Syndicated Research UXIP, "If consumers can see tangible value in moving their data connection off of a brought-in device and into a car, the benefits are plentiful. Numerous value-adds for consumer relationship management can be provided, a wealth of usage data can be opened up to the automaker, and the in-car internet provider can offer even more benefit through additional safety or diagnostic features. OEMs and suppliers must consider this consumer demand for on-board connectivity not as a problem, but as an opportunity. Their success may actually depend on it."

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Strategy Analytics, Inc. provides the competitive edge with advisory services, consulting and actionable market intelligence for emerging technology, mobile and wireless, digital consumer and automotive electronics companies. With offices in North America, Europe and Asia, Strategy Analytics delivers insights for enterprise success.

About In-vehicle UX

Our In-vehicle User Experience (IVX) service investigates UX innovation opportunities in the connected vehicle.  By understanding the emerging behaviors, needs, motivations, use cases, pain-points and "must-have" experiences of lead adopters and future target consumers, IVX delivers a roadmap to help you design the optimal experience.  IVX forms part of the User Experience Innovation Practice (UXIP) at Strategy Analytics. Through both syndicated and proprietary user-centric research capabilities, UXIP delivers strategic insights and analysis on how to optimize the user experience of new and emerging technologies.