Major Trends in Automotive Electronics

Since the invention of wheels mankind has come a long way. The incorporation of electronics in automobiles is just the tip of the iceberg. Today, automobiles are fully-equipped with smart technologies that do everything from monitoring fuel to diagnosing problems. What’s more, most of the cars now have more than 50 separate electronic controllers in them that makes a positive effect on safety.

According to Allied Market Research, the global automotive electronics market is projected to reach $382.16 billion by 2026, growing at a CAGR of 7.3% from 2020 to 2026. That’s because of rapid adoption of the Internet of Things (IoT) and artificial intelligence (AI) in automobiles and surge in demand for automobiles that are equipped with automated driving. Furthermore, increase in investment toward autonomous driving of vehicles in smart grids is expected to propel the market growth.

The majority of the electronics embedded in automotive are to improve safety. For instance, adaptive cruise control that reduces the vehicle speed is another vehicle is detected in front of it. Moreover, lane assist technology warns the driver if the user changes the lane without signaling. Such technologies are still new, but soon they will be the norm and improve driver’s safety.

However, there are other less dramatic but equally vital electronics that are already in use. In-car infotainment and computers enable drivers to control multiple devices simultaneously. Recently, BMW unveiled iDrive that offers a knob and screen that controls HVAC systems, navigation, and car’s audio. The technology now is on almost every BMW cars and other market players are incorporating a similar technology in their models.

We have entered an era when connected cars are the next-big-thing and thus, the market is expected to witness increased penetration in advanced electronics in automobiles. Moreover, it’s far too obvious to say that the demand for autonomous vehicles would supplement the growth of the automotive electronics industry. However, there are more trends in the market.

Advent of automotive sensors

Automotive sensors are ubiquitous now. incorporation of a miniature sensor that has a simple task of detecting outdoor temperature so you can monitor in on display is just one simple example. There are now multiple sensors that are responsible for a lot of critical tasks than monitoring temperature integrated with automobiles. There are sensors that monitor the angle of the car or sense slipping wheels in bad weather to maintain the driver’s safety.

Increased demand for autonomous vehicles

Although driverless cars have a long way to go before they hit the market, there has been remarkable progress in both technology and hardware, including GPUs and LIDARs. The advent of IoT has certainly made a positive effect on the development of autonomous vehicles.

Apart from that, most of the market players in the autonomous vehicles industry have made trials with their driverless cars and now, government bodies are looking in ways to deploy the technology to improve the public transport. Keeping this in mind, it is safe to say that the widespread introduction of driverless cars is inevitable and this would boost the demand for automotive electronics.

Increased connectivity

Automotive manufactures are spending a huge pile of money in developing new, lightweight components that improve energy efficiency and advanced driver-assistance systems (ADAS) features are on the verge of becoming the norm. What’s more, lane departure warning and automated emergency braking systems are witnessing huge demand. In the coming future, the majority of cars in the market would adopt some sort of connectivity.

Ever-increased demand for electronic vehicles

No local greenhouse gas emission is all it needs to promote the sale of electronic vehicles (EVs). The eco-friendly factor has increased its demand and therefore, the demand for charging stations has increased. Moreover, the successful deployment of EVs depends on the vehicle range. Apart from this, government incentives offered the necessary kickstart for the rapid adoption of EVs in countries such as India and China.

Shared mobility to become a norm

People have been always inclined toward increasing convenience that comes at an affordable price. Thus, the demand for shared mobility was bound to increase. The trend bred several sharing services for e-scooters and e-bikes. Moreover, the major market players have already invested big bucks to the range of innovative electronic management systems, which suggests the trend is likely to continue.

For these trends to turn into a disruptive force in the automobile industry, market players need to invest a lot in integrating state-of-the-art hardware and software technology. The optimum combination of this would offer the required momentum and reliability that would power the cars of the future; cars that are far smarter than today’s vehicles. Moreover, there is a huge potential for AI and telematics in the coming years and innovation in machine learning would drive the growth of the automotive electronics industry for sure.