Aftermarket Insider Issue 68 - (Page 19)

power of the people T EC H N O L O G Y U P DAT E Consumer Electronics (and Telematics) Show Automotive Connectivity Dominates Las Vegas – Is There Room for the Aftermarket? Put these facts together and you get a market picture full of tech-hungry consumers who crave connectivity and safety getting behind the wheel of their car with an application platform in their pocket. up with dozens of applications for the embedded connectivity is set to ramp to smart phone as a development platform. nearly 8 million in 2017, it represents just 40 percent of vehicle shipments, Fact #2 – Generation Y (the 75 million leaving ample opportunity for the Americans born roughly between 1980 aftermarket to provide flexible soluand 2000) value technology, connections for both legacy and new vehicles.” tivity, safety and “cool” the most. By 2017, their combined purchasing power Put these facts together and you get will exceed that of baby boomers. a market picture full of tech-hungry consumers who crave connectivity The opportunity exists to kindle the and safety getting behind the wheel love affair between these consumers of their car with an application platand their vehicles. Car manufacturers form in their pocket. To keep those Here are three factoids that taken are tripping over themselves to add cool vehicles connected with the indepentogether imply a strategic direcconnected technology that contributes dent parts and service aftermarket will tion for any product planner with to safety to their cars. Look at the require partnerships between many an eye on the future of the afterdrivers pictured in those ads to identify providers of technology, telematics market vehicle service customer. and understand the target demographic. and automotive service. But the facts suggest that the age of the connected Fact #1 – 45 percent of all mobile Fact #3 – There are 200 million vehicar is upon us and there is sufficient phones shipped in the U.S. last month cles on the roads of America that don’t value in the years ahead to support were smart phones… and the techhave a telematics solution installed by a lot of aftermarket innovation. nology is barely four years old. the factory. And, last year the OEMs shipped another 3.5 million vehicles For more about vehicle telematics and Consumers are getting behind the with some embedded connectivity. the future of aftermarket vehicle service, wheel with GPS, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi visit www.aftermarket.org/tomorrow. and more technology in their pocket. Automotive forward-thinkers will come According to Strategy Analytics, “While the volume of vehicles with some (CES) in January might as well have been called the Automotive Electronics Show, for all of the vehicle-related announcements and product debuts. In this space, we will visit the topic of telematics occasionally because the opportunity – as well as the threat – that these technologies pose to the aftermarket parts and service industry, is huge. AFTERMARKET INSIDER | VOLUME 68 | 19 The Consumer Electronics Show http://www.aftermarket.org/tomorrow

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Aftermarket Insider Issue 68

Aftermarket Insider Issue 68
Contents
President’s Message
The Automotive Aftermarket’s Green Story
Consumer Alert: FTC Responds to Warranty Misinformation
Government Affairs
Industry News
Member Profile
Toolbox: Downtime at Work
Toolbox
International Focus
Industry News
Technology Update
Market Intelligence

Aftermarket Insider Issue 68