According to a new connected car consumer survey by ABI Research (News - Alert), connected navigation was named as the most desired infotainment service in all countries surveyed except China. ABI Research’s multi-country “Connected Car: Market Shares, Awareness, Service Preferences, Usage Patterns, and Willingness to Pay” survey questioned 1,500 respondents in the US, UK, France, Germany, Japan, and China about their use (and non-use) of several services available to the “connected car.”

Questions covered awareness and interest levels in connected car service categories and individual applications, usage patterns, satisfaction, willingness to pay, form factors, user interfaces, and safety issues. Between 59 percent and 72 percent (Extremely/Very Interested) of respondents, in countries except China, said connected navigation was the most desired infotainment service.

The respondents did not show major interest in Internet radio, email, social media, and networking integration. However, those using Internet radio already, use it often.

Other findings from the ABI Research’s survey included high awareness and interest in safety and security services, as opposed to infotainment, convenience, and cost saving features. "High costs" and "lack of awareness" were mentioned as the main reasons non-user respondents were not interested in connected car services, with average monthly fees mentioned by non-users hovering around $10 and hardware costs not higher than $700.

“The clear preference for connected navigation can be explained by the familiarity of users with this service,” said Telematics and Navigation Group Director, Dominique Bonte, in a recent press release.  “Clearly car OEMs need to build their infotainment platforms around navigation, especially as overall awareness levels about other connected car services remain low. On the other hand the high frequency of use of Internet radio among users suggests that car owners embrace new services once they have become familiar.”

Rahul Arora is a TMCnet contributor. He has worked as an editor and freelance writer for several reputed organizations in India. To read more of his articles, please visit his columnist page.