Vodafone Idea and Kia Motors have joined hands to offer the connected car technology to Indian cars. Though the connected car technology is quite popular in the developed countries, in India it is still to reach those proportions. The Kia Seltos mini SUV will be the first vehicle to be launched within this arrangement. This car was launched in India in August 2019, and the advanced version of the car will be powered by Vodafone Idea’s telecom platform.
Connected car is the concept in which the vehicle is connected to the internet offering endless possibilities of controlling the vehicle, primarily with the aim to provide better safety and security for the passengers in the car.
In this case of Kia Seltos for example, there are 37 different special features to be provided. These are broadly clubbed into areas like navigation, safety and security, vehicle management, remote control and convenience. Many of these may sound familiar to people used the AI based IoT applications where voice commands can activate or close programmes. You want your car to smell better while taking it out, you can activate the air-purifier remotely. You can start your car’s engine or stop it using remote commands. Imagine you are headed to your office on a summer morning and you would want to get into your car and feel cool, switch on the engine and the automatic air-conditioning.
There are reports that suggest the connected car market in the country for the technology providers is close to $10 billion now and is growing very rapidly. The projection for 2025 is $32.5 billion.
Bosch, Harman, Denso, NXP, Garmin UNO Minda and Delphi are all companies/brands already engaged in providing the connected car technology. Most of these companies are overseas players.