Motorists Prefer Phone Companies to Automakers for Infotainment

A new study conducted by J.D. Power indicates that when it comes to in-car infotainment, motorists seem to prefer services provided by phone companies to those from automotive manufacturers. Based on the results of the survey done by the market research firm, consumers prefer infotainment options available through connected smartphones to the embedded infotainment services from automakers.

J.D. Power’s 2018 U.S. Tech Experience Index (TXI) study involved assessing the feedback from consumers regarding their experiences, usage and interaction with 38 driver-centric vehicle technologies at 90 days of ownership. For the purpose of conducting the study, almost 20,000 vehicle owners and lessees were polled. The survey found that both Apple CarPlay and Android Auto are being adopted at an increasing rate with many consumers considering them as an essential requirement for their vehicle. On the other hand, owners of new vehicles are comparably reluctant to buy the options which are available from the car companies.

Kristin Kolodge, a J.D. Power researcher specialized in driver interaction and HMI said that the rapid adoption of smartphone technologies reflect the general idea that when it comes to certain areas, smartphone software providers are outperforming the automakers. She said in a statement that when it comes to navigation and voice recognition, new-car owners consider phone systems to be better. Another key reason for wider adoption of these services is that they are free.

Kolodge recommended that it would be better for automakers to focus on areas like driver assistance and collision avoidance, where they can be the exclusive providers and thus have greater chances of new car owners taking to these technologies.

“Automakers need to be very clear where they can win,” Kolodge said. “The smart option in some areas may be to offer the best integration, not the least bad alternative.”

The J.D. Power study found that 19 percent of new-vehicle owners prefer not to use the factory-installed navigation in their cars, while 70 percent use another device, in most cases a smartphone.

The rate of usage of in-car driver assistance varied from one brand to another. When it came to lane-keeping, it ranged from 46 percent to 67 percent. For adaptive cruise control, it varied from 16 percent to 42 percent and for voice recognition it was between 10 percent and 29 percent.

Said Kolodge: “Consumers are challenging the level of usefulness that some automotive technology provides, including whether it’s needed at all.”