What impact will evolving in-vehicle technologies have on the future of automotive?

As the Software-Defined Vehicle comes closer to fruition, connectivity is becoming a much stronger priority among OEMs, newer players, suppliers, developers and more both across the automotive industry, and even beyond. While this shift can be observed through the disruption of many automotive features and technologies, two stand out: cockpit apps and virtual personal assistants (VPAs).

The cockpit app ecosystem has grown exponentially in recent years, with more and more automakers rolling out their own apps and services, while players outside the industry (ranging from tech giants to global multimedia companies) rework their popular mobile apps for contemporary infotainment systems. The VPA landscape has seen similar growth thanks in part to AI, which a growing number of automakers are integrating into their assistants. Here, partnerships with key players in the AI space (like OpenAI and Google) are enabling in-vehicle assistants driven by large language models (LLMs) such as ChatGPT and Gemini that allow for more naturalistic conversations, quicker response times, and more comprehensive answers to user questions.

In this article, we will explore two of our latest Cockpit & Infotainment reports that explore each of these features in detail: the Automotive Cockpit App & Ecosystem Guide, and the In-Car VPA and Voice Guide. While outlining the contents of each report, we will also explore their key benefits and hear from the report authors themselves who will offer expert insights into their most important takeaways.

Automotive Cockpit App & Ecosystem Guide

Today, a broad ecosystem of automotive OEMs and third-party developers are building and offering apps designed specifically for the vehicle’s center console. Spanning many feature domains, these apps play an important role in both the user experience and the vehicle lifecycle. These roles are likewise set to become even more important as software continues to become a more integral part of the vehicle. A thorough understanding of this landscape can therefore help OEMs looking to develop and scale their own cockpit apps and in-vehicle app stores.

This all-new report represents one of two SBD studies on the overall automotive app landscape, alongside the Automotive Smartphone App Guide. While providing deep insights into the latest app-related trends and activities from OEMs and third-party players in their respective regions, the guide is updated bi-annually to account for new app launches alongside the latest movements across the cockpit app landscape.

 While offering a full view of the ecosystem utilized to launch and maintain cockpit apps and app stores, the report offers granular detail, with more than 100,000 data points covering the breadth of these offerings while assessing how the competition stacks up. The guide is also updated bi-annually in PDF and PowerPoint formats, as well as a data-driven Excel sheet, to ensure it is always fresh.

In-Car VPA & Voice Guide

In recent years, more OEMs have adopted voice-based AI technologies aimed at elevating various driving experiences, with a particular focus on enhancing safety and vehicle performance. By utilizing this technology to manage the operations of various functions, drivers and passengers alike benefit from personalized, more interactive, journeys, while automakers gain a valuable tool for brand differentiation. While ensuring reliability and effectiveness across all environments and conditions, OEMs must ultimately plan for a wide ecosystem of first- and third-party services to compete in this exciting, new market.

Our all-new In-Car VPA & Voice Guide details the latest virtual personal assistants (VPAs) being launched worldwide, while profiling the VPA-adjacent features being delivered through OTA updates that expand on the role of voice in the car. Through these insights, OEMs can understand which VPA and voice features will be the most effective for their customers, and more broadly plan a roadmap for the overarching role that voice AI can play in their vehicles.

Here, the report offers a database of VPA features broken down by brand and model, while also identifying the various states of use for each one. This database likewise differentiates between multi-model, personalization, and orchestration layers including controlling multi-VPAs and other voice features, while assessing the number of VPA updates carried out over time (using data from our FOTA & Software Delivered Features Guide).

Next Steps

As shown in this Insight, each of the reports detailed above provide a key reference point on two mainstay technologies offered in contemporary infotainment systems.

Designed to help you make sense of the ecosystems surrounding both in-vehicle apps and virtual personal assistants, these reports individually provide thorough expert insights on the apps and assistants leading their respective markets and which ones are falling behind, understanding and analyzing this performance at both ends of the scale. When paired together, they offer a comprehensive, mutually beneficial, exploration of the landscape for contemporary connectivity technologies punctuated by expert insights and recommendations that help you plan your future infotainment strategies.

Want to gain expert insights into the technologies discussed in this article? Then be sure to click below and secure your copy of our Automotive Cockpit App & Ecosystem Guide and our In-Car VPA & Voice Guide today!

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