In-car systems ― still a challenge for providers

摘要

Developing Commercial in-Vehicle Information Services and Systems should have been a buzzy kind of day. In fact the seminar organised by the IEE in association with IT (UK) was a more thoughtful affair. That there is plenty of activity in this sector cannot be denied, but how and when anyone would make any money out of in-car telematics was less than clear, and this uncertainty gave the day a somewhat muted air. For a start there is a serious misalignment between the car and consumer electronics businesses. They are fundamentally different, explained Taj Kailey of Jaguar and Land Rover Product Development. He pointed out that the product horizon for a new car was five to ten years, that every egg was a bird approach and that cost savings, from one model to the next would probably be less than 10%. Compare that to consumer electronics where product development typically took six to 12 months, 60% of projects were in fact blind alleys and cost savings could be in the region of 50%.