Analyst commentary on issues, trends, and developments in the automotive telematics, navigation, and infotainment markets.

Nissan recently announced that its new Fuga model for the Japanese market will feature an adaptive cruise control option that links to its navigation system. This is another step towards automated driving. Adaptive cruise control is becoming available on an increasing number of models from a growing number of manufacturers, and offers automatic speed adjustment to the traffic ahead. The new feature from Nissan adds extra information from the navigation system to reduce speed going into a sharp curve and resume the selected speed afterwards.

Incremental improvements such as this are significant steps towards safer transport. Although initially available to only a few high-end vehicle purchasers in Japan, this feature is being developed by most of the world’s auto manufacturers. It is a logical extension of the utility of the navigation system, and will provide a real reason for consumers to opt for the built-in system rather than rely on a personal navigation device. Add real-time traffic information and people who drive a lot for their work will benefit greatly.

The next incremental improvement will be to link in the lane-keeping system. On open roads, the car will then be able to stay in lane and maintain a safe speed even when other vehicles are in front. Note that the car will still need driver attention, as the lane-keep does not steer but only helps to maintain lane discipline through wheel torque control. With electric power assist and steer-by-wire either here or just around the corner, the first pieces of the automated driving puzzle are falling into place.

Fully automated driving is still a distant vision, but we can see a time within the next five years where freeway driving could have an automatic mode that includes automatic speed and steering control. As other telematics functions such as vehicle-to-vehicle communication come on line, the potential for reducing accidents and improving road traffic flow is very exciting. We believe that some of the automakers have already tested such systems, and they are refining their technology to improve robustness before releasing them to the general public.

The recent results of the DARPA Urban Challenge showed that automated driving in city traffic is possible today, although not yet either practical or affordable. For a first hand experience of the next step in driver assistance in Europe and North America, we hope that the Infiniti M45 also will offer the enhanced adaptive cruise control system soon.

Telematics will be an Increasingly Important Piece of the Bigger Picture
Author: David Alexander
Principal Analyst, Commercial Telematics
Posted: Thu, 19 Jun 2008 16:50:33 EDT

Telematics Detroit 2008
Author: Dominique Bonte
Principal Analyst, Telematics & Navigation
Posted: Tue, 27 May 2008 07:41:52 EDT

Navigation and LBS at CTIA
Author: Dominique Bonte
Principal Analyst, Telematics & Navigation
Posted: Mon, 7 Apr 2008 16:51:36 EDT

Navigation Highlights at CeBIT 2008
Author: Dominique Bonte
Principal Analyst, Telematics & Navigation
Posted: Tue, 11 Mar 2008 09:36:08 EDT

The Mobile World Congress 2008: Pedestrian Navigation at Last!
Author: Dominique Bonte
Principal Analyst, Telematics & Navigation
Posted: Mon, 11 Feb 2008 14:32:37 EST