EXPERTS VIEWS /

Telematics Redefining Automotive Industry

Ashish Gulati
Country Manager, India, Telit Wireless Solutions

Telematics diligence is one of the highest emerging sectors in the world and progresses in mobile communication industry have made it possible to detect and determine any variable in real-time. The industry has undergone a paradigm shift especially when we see the rising number of accidents and thefts in automobile segment. Indian telematics market is gaining momentum and proposes elevated expansion opportunities to the merchants and market vendor.

Automobile industry is implanting more and more telematics in the vehicles to monitor the performance and to detect any flaws in the vehicles, simultaneously meeting the demands of users for wireless connectivity. According to iSuppli, BRIC region has the fastest growing auto industry when compared to the western countries and the percentages of vehicles embedded with telematics technology are expected to reach 46% globally by the end of 2018, yet the telematics development is still at a nascent stage in the BRIC economies.

India has a huge growth potential in the auto industry considering the rising sale of vehicles, GLONASS deal between Indian and Russia in 2010 also projects the future expansion and deployment of OEM embedded telematics.

Transportation is the backbone for fast moving lifestyle of the present generation; people are heavily dependent on better transit facilities and always strive for new innovations in the auto sector. Telematics is improving the quality of lifestyle by adding functionality and value to automotive, tracking and transport solutions.

India being a vast nation, the adoption of M2M technology in the telematics segment has a massive potential and Machine-to-Machine (M2M) resolution is the elucidation to make these things possible and affordable. M2M devices are designed in such a way that it could be incorporated into all transportation segments like cars, trucks, aircraft, trains, trailers, ships and containers. GNSS, Short Range, 2G, 3G and even 4G communication modules etc are the technologies that facilitate M2M communication; this would lead to enhanced quality of life in the developing world. There are several telematics devices that are the part of the transportation segment like navigation, stolen vehicle recovery, infotainment systems, electronic toll systems and vehicle diagnostics. This would help in getting real time update, vehicle information, toll, parking and other relevant information.

M2M is also gaining impetus in various subsidiary industries like automobile leasing business, fleet management and related sectors. The rising demands of telematics embedded vehicles are expected to drive down the prices of devices and make it affordable for the companies to incorporate these devices. However, the lack of awareness and cost sensitivity could pose a challenge in this sector.

Globally, automobile industry is broadly working on the consumption of M2M technologies. Deployment of M2M telematics applications in automotive industry can help to decrease the number of road accidents and damages. The focus of telematics industry in deploying similar products will lead the automotive sector to increase the digitization in vehicles. This initiative of telematics industry will bring the resolution in automotive sector and commence the system of intelligent traffic in the developing countries like India and would also help in live traffic updated, real time positioning, tracking, parking management and also reduce the road accidents. The economically and technologically far most superior nations like USA, Japan and Germany have already implemented this technology and India is on the verge to largely deploy this expertise in its automotive industry.

With modern cars coming up with integrated computer system and other electronic gadgets which help in the essential controls on vehicle, M2M modules today provide vehicles with fully loaded sensor technology which gives all the information about the performance on engine, temperature, fuel, breaks, etc. M2M data modules are extremely sophisticated and come with an array of features and capabilities such as onboard Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) technology, flexible land grid array surface mounting, embedded M2M optimized smart cards (like phone SIMs) known as MIMs or M2M identification modules, and embedded Java, a significant facilitating technology to step up the Internet of Things (IOT).

Despite of certain challenges like awareness and adoption of m2m technology, Asia and in particular India has marvelous break in the Telematics space. India as a country faces issues regarding consumer awareness. Most of the high-end consumers are not aware how telematics can make their life simple and how full utilization would reap benefits for them. This is one of the greatest challenges, which India has to conquer to attain absolute utilization of immense market opportunities.