Consumers are not ready for keyless cars, finds Strategy Analytics

Narrow demand and the limitations of the technology itself evoke questions about its readiness for a wider market

July 10, 2018

BOSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The In-vehicle UX (IVX) group at Strategy Analytics has explored consumer appetite for truly keyless cars in its recent report, “Keyless Cars: Do Consumers Want Them, and Are Automakers Ready?”. While keyless technology provides a number of benefits such as consumers having one less item to lose or replace and automakers leveraging the technology for fleet management, it also holds fundamental disadvantages – the requirement of an active and charged mobile device and a reliable mobile connection.

Derek Viita, Senior Analyst and report author commented, “Consumer demand is certainly present for keyless technology but this demand is largely being driven by two specific demographics: younger or middle-aged car owners and a large majority of early adopters.”

Continued Viita , “With the proliferation of OEM-branded apps and telematics services, stakeholders are certainly under pressure to validate the keyless concept. Narrow demand and the limitations of the technology itself evoke questions about its readiness for a wider market.”

Added Chris Schreiner , Director, Syndicated Research UXIP, “Strategy Analytics advises immediate exploration of the concept for model lines catering to younger and tech-savvy consumers, but caution among wider portfolios for the near term.”

About In-vehicle UX

Our In-vehicle User Experience (IVX) service investigates UX innovation opportunities in the connected vehicle. By understanding the emerging behaviors, needs, motivations, use cases, pain-points and “must-have” experiences of lead adopters and future target consumers, IVX delivers a roadmap to help you design the optimal experience. IVX forms part of the User Experience Innovation Practice (UXIP) at Strategy Analytics. Through both syndicated and proprietary user-centric research capabilities, UXIP delivers strategic insights and analysis on how to optimize the user experience of new and emerging technologies.