By Jon Lawes, managing director, Hitachi Capital Vehicle Solutions

More and more vehicles now come with connected technology as standard and it is predicted that by 2020 almost all vehicles in Europe will be built with an embedded SIM. The majority of customers (57%) see it as a ‘must have’ or ‘big influence’ on car selection.

The key to successfully embracing connectivity is to think like the customer and provide it to drivers and fleet managers who want it. The alternative is to risk losing business. Recent research from connected car consultancy SBD has found that 47% of drivers would change their brand of vehicle for better connected services.

There is real debate in the industry and across Europe on data ownership and consumer protection.

Manufacturers may argue that as they built the assets and own the technology then they should be able to use the data for customer relationship management (CRM), warranty cost reduction and aftersales SMR revenues. The driver may say they don’t want anyone to know exactly where they are, how they’re driving or selling their data to third parties for profit. A common framework is now needed.

Almost all vehicle manufacturers are responding to customer demand for connected services and are increasingly offering services on lower segment vehicles and standardising on higher segments, or even the entire range.

While the uptake of these services suggest that drivers are happy for car companies to use their data in return for these connected services, the lease industry has found itself in the middle of this ‘data consent’ situation.

On the one hand the industry could gain significantly, but their SMR use could conflict with those of the car companies. It is therefore important that the customer’s need for connected features is balanced against the data use cases of the car and lease companies.

The time is definitely now for connected vehicles. Customers are increasingly looking to the vehicle leasing industry to embrace connectivity by ‘turning it on’ for those who want it and to work with manufacturers to implement it in a way that protects their data and gives them choice.