Don’t Just Collect Vehicle Data – Monetize It!

Even with light usage of a couple of hours-a-day, Intel has found that connected vehicles generate 4 TB of data each, every day! This quickly becomes a huge amount of data – powering to zettabyte levels for OEMs manufacturing millions of cars per year. But collecting and storing this data simply adds cost unless it is integrated, analyzed and monetized. The opportunity is enormous. My basic arithmetic suggests monetizing that data at a value of 1 cent for each TB of vehicle data collected from 10 million cars produced annually and on the road for 5 years could deliver $7.3 billion annually. The trick is realizing that value and using it to stay relevant and profitable in today’s market.

As the automotive sector quickly transforms, and the electro-mechanical product at its heart becomes just one piece in an increasingly complex jigsaw of services and products, vehicle data is becoming one of the most important sources of insight. But if it is collected and left in fragmented silos it quickly becomes a cost and delivers little value. We’ve heard of OEMs already deleting vast swathes of collected data unsure of its quality, usefulness or value. But integrated with customer, service and parts data, as well as a host of business systems from finance to manufacturing data, vehicle data is an essential strand of the digital thread that runs through the automotive OEM of the future.
 
Fully integrated, vehicle data supports three essential aspects of the new business models that can ensure OEMs remain in the driving seat as the industry evolves. Analytics-enabled predictive driving, connectivity solutions and services, and transport as a service all offer OEMs routes to be preferred mobility providers.

A better journey tomorrow

Analytics that combine data on vehicle condition, usage and position with information on the preferences and behaviors of owners and operators will underpin new services that increase the relevance and loyalty to the brand. This is not the automated driver assistance that happens in milliseconds within the vehicle, but the use of longer-term data to understand how the vehicle is being used and to predict how it might be used next. With this information, OEM’s can provide new services; predictive maintenance; personalized route optimization, geo-fencing options, and emerging ‘Mobility as a Service’ (MaaS) or ‘Transport as a Service (TaaS), options.

The Content I Like

Understanding which connectivity solutions and services are used, how, by whom and when creates new revenue opportunities and increased loyalty. Better apps, better content and greater personalization of the mobility experience are all increasingly valued by drivers, passengers and other stakeholders.  New in-vehicle information, entertainment and even gaming opportunities are arising, closely matching these to specific customers creates clear opportunities for brand engagement. Using vehicle, customer and society data to create behavior-based products, for example in the anti-theft and cyber-security domain for connected vehicles is one of several emerging areas of development where integrated data will be key.

Beyond The Vehicle

A future of shared ownership, or subscription-based access to mobility as a service represents a challenge for OEMs and their brands. As the world moves on from ownership models to MaaS and TaaS models the demand for granular data across an expanding and complex ecosystem of partners in multi-modal mobility systems will intensify. The integration of vehicle data can give them huge advantage. Detailed information on location, status and performance of vehicles when combined with smart city solutions, and customer data can drive a host of mobility services from ride hailing and sharing to parking and multi-modal journeys as end-users move away from vehicle ownership.
 
Sharing and monetizing this will be fundamental to the smooth and commercially viable operation of Smart Cities planned for the near future. Blending vehicle data with other data sets is essential in each case to understand and predict not only how the vehicle will behave, but the intent and requirements of drivers and their passengers. Linking these insights into the digital thread that connects the customer journey to R&D, manufacturing and sales creates the virtuous feedback loops that will keep automotive companies relevant as the value-add services that augment the physical vehicle become more important to consumers.
 
To deploy these new services effectively and profitably, ahead of the many new entrants moving quickly to establish, automotive companies need better understanding of how customers use their vehicles and extended services. Vehicle data has a core role to play in this, and is a data set that others may not have. Integrating and analysing at scale is essential to define which vehicle data is relevant and valuable to drive business decisions. Quickly moving from experiments to deploying analytics in production and using them drive business decisions and actions to deliver rapid business value is critical.
 
From being a cost, once integrated, vehicle data becomes an important driver of increased revenues, brand loyalty and reduced costs. Getting it right means it is no longer ‘just’ vehicle data, but information about people or goods in vehicles making journeys to places. Using this to inform, manage and tailor the interactions between people, mobility services and transport solutions will cement the leadership of OEMs in the new data and analytics enabled mobility marketplace.