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In-Vehicle Navigation and Communications to be Next Multi-Billion Dollar Market

20 August 1998

In-Vehicle Navigation and Communications to be Next Multi-Billion Dollar Market Says Allied Business Intelligence

    OYSTER BAY, N.Y., Aug. 19 -- The global market for in-vehicle
ITS systems will grow from the current $1 billion to over $18 billion per year
in 5 years, according to a new report from Allied Business Intelligence,
"Intelligent Transportation Systems: Wireless In-Vehicle Navigation and
Communication Technologies, Global Markets & Forecasts."
    Major ITS systems are: in-vehicle communication systems (IVCS); in-vehicle
navigation systems (IVNS); electronic toll collection (ETC) using smart cards
and transponders; automatic vehicle identification (AVI); automatic vehicle
location (AVL); and collision avoidance systems (CAS).
    "CAS will be the big market winner.  It's getting its opportunity to shine
on trucks first.  Eaton VORAD is fielding a CAS for trucks that has reduced
fleet accident rates by 30 to 70 percent.  The system is installed on over
10,000 trucks," said Michael Kujawa, senior transportation analyst with Allied
Business Intelligence, Inc.  "The CAS market will surpass $10 billion per year
within 5 years."
    Widely available "mayday systems" access cellular links to call a central
service whenever an airbag deploys or when a driver presses an emergency call
button on the dashboard.  The system hinges on the presence of a Global
Positioning Satellite (GPS) receiver and the data link.
    More than 14,000 vehicles are now in the GM OnStar program.  Drivers get
voice-activated cellular communications, mayday support, navigation, and point
of interest directions from a central service.  Other car manufacturers are
watching closely.
    One the lower end, the AutoPC market is about to be born in the US through
a network of over 500 FM radio stations.  It will far surpass European
coverage encompassing Paris, three cities in Germany and most of the UK.
    These lower end in-vehicle information systems (IVIS) will furnish voice
activation for directions, music channels, messaging and traffic conditions.
Again, there is a subscriber fee.  IVIS could expand into a multibillion
dollar annual market within 5 years.
    Nearly 20 percent of fleet trucks are now equipped with cellular
communications and paging capabilities, automatic vehicle location (AVL) with
GPS receivers, smartcards for toll payments, and transponders for automatic
vehicle identification (AVL).  This segment of the ITS industry, already a
$300 million per year industry, could expand to over $1.6 billion per year in
5 years.
    Some markets are starting now, others will appear in a few years.  ABI's
report pinpoints the markets, when they will appear, their evolution over
time, and the rise and demise of various technologies in what promises to be
furious pace of deployment, change, and opportunity.