Machina Research today unveiled its inaugural ranking of global automotive manufacturers. And the winners are…BMWGMFordAudiChryslerMercedes-BenzTeslaToyotaVWHonda

Machina says that “ BMW, with its ConnectedDrive service, tops the list, followed by GM, which has been something of a trailblazer with OnStar. Ford features in third place courtesy of scale and increasing focus on developing an embedded offering. The all-round sophistication and comparative maturity of their offerings allow Audi and Chrysler to round out the top five.“Mercedes Benz and Tesla lack the volumes of sales to feature at the top of the ranking, but are the two manufacturers for whom connected car services are most central to their overall strategy. Toyota, VW and Honda benefit from their scale and anticipated connected car volumes.”The ranking used weighted criteria - such as the number of in-car services and the openness of the system to developers - to reach its conclusions.Connected car is not a new concept but Machina says there’s some real acceleration going on at the moment and it expects to see adoption “rocket” as manufacturers extend connectivity across their ranges. Getting the connectivity piece right will be key to selling cars.Commenting on the results, Matt Hatton, director at machina research, said: “For automotive manufacturers [the connected car] provides a new differentiator, an additional revenue opportunity, and creates a channel to build a stronger ongoing relationship with drivers.“The range of applications on offer is enormous, from simple remote door unlocking and heating activation, through to emergency calls, navigation, entertainment, and vehicle fault diagnostics, plus many more besides.The study was sponsored by Vodafone which has just announced a new agreement with Volkswagen and Audi.