There’s a lot riding on the bet that consumers want car tech that functions like a smartphone and offers safety and diagnostic features. By 2015, 20 percent of all new vehicle sales will be what the industry calls connected cars, according to the telecoms trade group GSMA, which could provide a much needed boost for a foundering industry.
Even automakers and mobile operators have their doubts. “A car is a car,” says Nathalie Leboucher, head of Smart Cities program, at the French mobile operator Orange (FTE). “It is not a smartphone on wheels.”
Before the connected car becomes a success, the industry will have to solve five big problems:
