Government support for aftermarket on connected cars

2 April 2015  

A government minister has reaffirmed his support for the aftermarket in the fairness of diagnostic data access from connected cars.

Robert Goodwill MP, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the Department for Transport, was speaking about the government’s stance on connected an autonomous cars at the SMMT Connected conference, an event looking into the impact of the technology in the UK vehicle market.

When questioned by Aftermarket Editor Phil Curry on the government’s position into the fairness of data access for the industry, he said: “As a basic principle in terms of early legislation, I think it is important that we don’t create monopolies for the manufacturers, as much as they’d like to have that situation and that means negotiating access to data and software, much like with engine managements systems. I go to my local garage to get my car serviced and they can do so because they are able to plug their computer in to service my car. That is important for consumers and for the market, and it is something that we will work through.

“We do want to give people the reward for innovation and the technology that they develop, but we also want to ensure that we have a vibrant aftermarket for servicing and maintenance. With any technology that consumers buy, there needs to be a genuine market in aftersales for them.”

When then questioned about the government’s current position on eCall, the minister quipped “I would like to be able to get a decent mobile phone signal in the area that I live first! I think that needs to be sorted before we can discuss further.”

However, Dr Wolfgang Ziebart, Group Engineering Director at Jaguar Land Rover, confirmed in his following presentation that: “We are not waiting for legislation and will implement eCall on all new vehicles in 2016.”

The event saw speakers from vehicle manufacturers, research groups and technology companies presenting on how connected and autonomous vehicles would benefit UK markets and how the country was leading in this sector. Manufacturers highlighted their work on connectivity and what it would mean to consumers.