Infotainment & In-Car Content

TU talks to Roger Lanctot, senior analyst and director for business development for the Global Automotive Practice, Strategy Analytics, about emerging market opportunities in Latin America

What is your role and experience in the LATAM telematics market?
My own experience and role in assessing Brazilian market opportunities derives from my own experiences in Brazil, my interactions with executives actively pursuing opportunities and developing products for the Brazilian market, and my external observations comparing developments in Brazil with similar markets.

What partnerships are you currently forging in the LATAM space?
Our work in Latin America is driven by client curiosity regarding market opportunities in the region. Strategy Analytics’ wireless market intelligence along with automotive and consumer insights are powerful tools for better understanding these emerging opportunities.

Which trends will impact the emerging LATAM telematics industry the most in the coming years and why?
Latin America is drinking from the same fire hose as the rest of the world, with some unique flavors relating to the need to support commerce and mitigate crime and traffic challenges.

Countries like Brazil are wrestling with the same rapidly changing demographic and technological issues as the rest of the world, as more people take up driving within a finite road network.

At the same time, wireless networks are in transition and the related supporting technologies, such as mapping and traffic data, are still being refined.

The good news is that the process is in the earliest stage so the opportunity exists to deploy these applications and services properly from the start.

How do you differentiate your offerings from your competitors?
Strategy Analytics combines robust automotive industry insights with knowledge of wireless/mobile network deployments and usage and a powerful user experience practice.

We can look at trends in device and vehicle design, network deployments and tariffs and user interfaces and consumer willingness to pay.

The combination of those insights is unmatched in the industry.

What key issues will you be discussing at Telematics Brazil & LATAM 2011?
What is most interesting is the rate of consumer adoption and acceptance of emerging technologies. So many things are possible today.

The gating factors are the underlying business models. Carriers and carmakers around the world are all trying to answer the same question: How do we get consumers to pay for these products and services?

Latin American consumers no doubt present a unique spectrum of answers to this question, which will be the focus of most event participants.

How important is this emerging market for the telematics industry in 2011 and beyond?
Brazil, alone, is one of the largest and fastest growing markets in the world. Brazil has already demonstrated its ability to gain the attention of the global automotive industry with its vehicle immobilization mandate.

There is no doubt that similarly creative solutions may be proposed or instated in the future that will have similar influence.

For more on the Latin American telematics market, join the sectors other key players at Telematics Brazil & LATAM 2011 on September 19-20 in Sao Paulo.