Vehicle Safety Systems to be the Next Big Differentiator, says ABI Research

OYSTER BAY, N.Y.--Oct. 5, 2004--While Detroit automotive manufacturers take a piecemeal approach, putting intelligent safety systems only in selected models, their overseas competitors - especially those from Japan -- increasingly offer them as standard equipment across wide product lines.

ABI Research believes that electronic stability control (ESC), traction control systems (TCS), lane departure warnings and other advanced safety systems will prove key differentiators for vehicle makers in the next few years. For the U.S. automotive industry, it's a race they are running at a disadvantage.

Not only are domestic carmakers losing market share to imports, but according to Frank Viquez, ABI Research's director of automotive research, they may not be able to add safety systems to new models at a much greater rate than they are already doing.

"They should be concerned," he says. "Their resources may not be adequate to match those of a company like Toyota Motor Co. that's part of a huge conglomerate with access to very advanced R&D, as well as holding stakes in some of its tier one suppliers." Both Toyota and Honda are making ESC standard on all their light trucks beginning this year.

A preliminary study conducted by the National Highway Transport Safety Administration recently found that ESC and TCS systems reduced single-vehicle crashes by 35% in passenger cars and 67% in SUVs. Evidence like that may lead the NHTSA to mandate the inclusion of ESC systems in SUVs by 2007.

ABI Research fears that those OEMs still sitting on the fence may be at a pronounced disadvantage come 2007, but the domestic players' pockets may not be deep enough to absorb the cost of matching the Japanese makers' wide deployments.

The ABI Research study "Vehicle Safety Systems" offers an overall perspective of how emerging systems, such as adaptive front lighting, lane departure warning, and adaptive cruise control, will develop and eventually converge.

Founded in 1990 and headquartered in New York, ABI Research maintains global operations that support annual research programs, quarterly intelligence services and market reports in wireless, automotive, semiconductors, broadband, and energy. Their market research products can be found on the Web at www.abiresearch.com, or by calling 516.624.3113.