Emergency Notification System in Automobile Market Trends

Growth Drivers

• UN-level mandates and automotive compliance thresholds fueling demand: The proliferation of international agreements and safety frameworks, such as the UNECE WP.29 regulations and the global NCAP protocols, is a major driver of the sector. The frameworks have created a homogenous compliance ecosystem across multiple economies, facilitating ENS vendors to streamline market entries in regional markets. For instance, the UNECE WP.29 alone influences more than 60 countries scattered across Europe, APAC, the Middle East, and Latin America. Regionally, India introduced the Bharat NCAP in 2023, which mirrors the Euro NCAP protocols by awarding higher star ratings for vehicles equipped with emergency call systems. Additionally, the adoption curve in MENA and Latin America has steepened, creating lucrative segments for the ENS vendors. By analyzing the cascading nature of regulations, the driver is slated to have a decade-old momentum runway, positively reinforcing the growth curve of the global ENS in automobile market.
• Insurance-driven telematics and V2ES mandates in smart city mobility pilots: The proliferation of several smart city mobility pilots in North America, the Middle East, and APAC has expanded the scope of integration of telematics data streams for real-time crash response. Major automotive insurers have incentivized the proliferation in a bid to reduce claim settlement times. Applications can be mapped in major pilot programs such as Vision Zero Abu Dhabi and Mobility-as-a-Service Helsinki, where EMS is integrated into city-wide emergency response algorithms. Moreover, competitive implications highlight that opportunities are expected to be rife for the ENS vendors that offer telematics platforms that meet insurer APIs and municipal emergency response standards. The opportunities are expected to rise from government procurement contracts and fleet-based SaaS recurring revenue models.
• Technological advancements: Technological advancements are the backbone of the global ENS in automobile market. Improvements in ENS systems significantly reduce the adverse impacts of serious crashes by providing emergency medical care on time. For instance, the integration of AI into eCall systems is a major evolution in emergency response as algorithms are able to rapidly analyze data from various sensors to determine the severity of an accident. Another burgeoning trend has been the advancements in vehicle-to-everything communications, which have improved road safety and converged with the proliferation of smart traffic management systems globally.The 5G and the proliferation of IoT networks are also transforming the performance of emergency notification systems (ENS) in automobiles. With 5G or more advanced wireless connectivity networks, emergency alerts reach Public Safety Answering Points (PSAPs) almost in real time. This high-speed ability is set to fuel the sales of next-gen ENSs in the years ahead. One of the recent examples to support this trend is the collaboration of Vodafone and Porsche with HERE held in July 2021 to use 5G for real-time safety alerts between vehicles. Thus, continuous technological advancements are projected to double the revenues of key players during the foreseeable period.

Challenges

• Over-reliance on diverse telecommunication standards: The emergency notification system in automobiles is overly reliant on diverse telecommunication standards spanning across regions and vehicle manufacturers. This creates a bottleneck due to the fragmented ecosystem, pushing ENS vendors to develop adaptable systems and adding to the overall integration costs. Additionally, unlike other automotive subsystems, such as infotainment or navigation, ENS has to support the rapid and fail-safe message delivery across heterogeneous networks, compounding the challenge of multi-protocol integrations.
• High retrofit and integration costs: High retrofit and integration costs are among the biggest challenging factors in the emergency notification system in automobile market. The retrofitting of older cars with ENS requires additional hardware and specialized materials, which adds to the costs. Thus, many old fleet operators often defer from modernizing their vehicles, leading to low profit margins for key players in price-sensitive markets.