Driving Into The Autonomous Future

Over-the-air (OTA) update capabilities are incredibly important to the automotive industry—in fact, they’re quite literally the future of it, as they’re essential for further advancements in connected car tech.

OTA is valuable not only from the automaker’s standpoint, as it dispels the need for pricey vehicle recalls and allows for enhanced cybersecurity, but also for the consumer, who benefits from the convenience OTA allows by not having to take cars into the auto dealer for software recalls. We’ll also soon see new “driving centric” services that help consumers more seamlessly get through the mobility parts of their day, thanks to OTA’s data collection and analytics. In turn, positive consumer engagement with the vehicle will increase, creating a more productive, efficient, and safe transportation experience overall, with the added perk to automakers of improved brand satisfaction and loyalty for the next vehicle purchase.

As for when we’ll likely see OTA hit top speed—it’s coming up fast. Today, all major automakers are currently evaluating OTA services for their connected vehicle programs, and leading automakers will begin wide-scale deployments starting with the 2020 model year. By 2025-2030 we should expect the majority of global vehicle production to be OTA enabled.

By Scott Frank, VP of Marketing at Airbiquity.