This report details all telematics services launched by the auto industry since the late 1990s, together with those that are currently under development.

It also gives independent, expert insight into the fundamental strategies that SBD identifies as having the potential to promote wider customer uptake of the technology and yield more consistent rewards for manufacturers in the future.

The timing of this report reinforces its importance, with publication coming at the beginning of what will be a pivotal year for the industry.

The European Commission's proposals for a pan-European public E-call system to be introduced by the end of the decade could compel manufacturers to incorporate a low-cost telematics platform in all new vehicles - basic hardware which could subsequently be used to support the introduction of more advanced services in the future.

Manufacturers are having to determine their response to this challenge now and build an industry consensus. Even if the EC's ambitions are not achieved, SBD believes that manufacturers will have to reappraise their approach to private telematics services. In this environment, SBD's report gains even greater status and value.

The key factors required for future success are analysed in depth: strategic positioning of services; service pricing; identification of the services which will grow the market; successful bundling of services; the best route to achieving pan-European coverage; the communications challenges which need to be overcome; and the most effective methods of configuring in-car hardware.

The report highlights the lessons that need to be learned from the problems encountered by those manufacturers that pioneered sophisticated - but too often costly, poorly designed and over-complex - telematics services, and the positive experiences of the car makers which have succeeded in establishing systems within their model ranges. SBD provides pragmatic recommendations that reposition telematics as a dynamic tool that can be used by manufacturers to support their vehicle production, sales and servicing operations.