Automotive
The automotive industry is among the IoT’s highest growth areas, and will only become more so over the next decade. The promise of connected vehicles is enormous: use cases enable improved road safety, efficient traffic management, smart navigation, crime deterrence, and passenger entertainment to name just a few. As smart cities take shape over the coming years, cellular vehicle-to-everything (C-V2X) technology will become increasingly commonplace in everyday life – allowing vehicles to communicate in sophisticated ways with pedestrians, buildings, the roads, and each other – and much more besides.
$166bn
Market for connected vehicles by 2025
$500bn
Market for micromobility by 2030
94%
Fatal crashes avoided by 2030 thanks to autonomous vehicles
By 2025 almost all new cars will be connected – the consumer market alone will yield 300 million new IoT connections – saving 400,000 metric tons of CO2 per year, through efficiency gains per mile driven, enabled by advanced driver assistance systems. Then, by 2030, increasingly autonomous vehicles are expected to all but eliminate the 94% of fatal crashes caused by human error in developed markets.
The commercial opportunity is therefore immense: the overall market for connected vehicles is expected to more than triple in size between 2020 and 2025, reaching a value of $166 billion. Then from 2025 to 2027 the market for connected automotive sensors alone will grow at a CAGR of almost 9%, to $16.7 billion. And a vast service industry is already taking shape around this transport revolution, forecast to be worth $81 billion across Europe, China and the USA by the end of this decade. Now is therefore the time to plan for market entry, or expansion, as this sector accelerates.
By 2030 the global autonomous car market is projected to reach $60 billion, accounting for 40% of the personal mileage driven in Europe and 35% of new car sales in the USA.
The next decade in automotive is ultimately about how much vehicle autonomy will be possible, and how quickly. Leading automakers aim to bring Level 4 and 5 autonomous vehicles to the mass market over the next 5 years, but some analysts expect widespread deployment closer to 2029. By 2030 the global autonomous car market is projected to reach $60 billion, accounting for 40% of the personal mileage driven in Europe and 35% of new car sales in the USA. Progress depends on rollout of 5G, how relevant AI solutions develop, and on the regulatory landscape, all of which we intend to monitor closely.
During the interim, mobility-as-a-service (MaaS) will continue to grow as a key use area, driving the development of new ownership models and cross-sectoral ecosystems. Shared micromobility, a key form of MaaS, could be worth $500bn across China, Europe and the USA by 2030, as returns are often swift. An e-scooter used 5 times per day for instance can become economical after just 4 months, providing an attractive investment option for civic authorities as they plan smart cities – and an excellent opportunity for those who can design compelling applications to support them.
Connected driving requires ultra-reliable connectivity – our modules provide:
Accurate satellite positioning via Qualcomm IZat technology
MIMO antennas to greatly reduce errors and boost data speeds
Wide temperature range to ensure durability in harsh environments
Backward network compatibility for coverage in remote areas
Quectel is a major supplier of cellular, Wi-Fi and GNSS modules to the automotive industry, providing durable, compliant and reliable hardware to enable the next generation of smart vehicles. We benefit from a truly global research and development team, allowing us to keep our customers up to date with the latest insights, enabling them to plan and design their applications optimally. We’re proud to support this ongoing transport revolution: reducing congestion, driving down emissions, and saving lives, while making roads a more harmonious place for all who travel them.
