The news: The connected car is shifting from a tech talking point to a marketing one as in-car entertainment becomes the next attention battleground for advertisers.

• 60% of vehicle owners in the US, Germany, Japan, and South Korea say in-car system features are a critical buying criterion, per Gracenote’s In The Driver’s Seat report, indicating the connected vehicle experience is becoming as important as horsepower or physical design.
• 63% want infotainment systems to give them personalized recommendations based on listening behavior, and 67% want those systems to organize content seamlessly.

We expect the number of US connected car drivers to reach 180.9 million in 2028, up from 164.9 million in 2025.

Why it matters: Infotainment represents a new advertising channel that blends the scale of broadcast audio with the precision of audience targeting.

• Drivers are captive audiences for long stretches, and the consistent, contextual, and identity-linked data generated by in-car systems can’t be matched by most mobile platforms.
• As original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and content providers refine their recommendation engines, this data could become a valuable currency for advertisers to fuel smarter segmentation and campaign optimization.

Zooming out: The broader opportunity lies in data. In-car media platforms’ listening and location data offer a new dimension of audience insights.

The introduction of these next-gen car systems opens doors to everything from in-car ad placements and referral revenues to licensing deals between OEMs and advertisers for customer analytics.

The risk: Content quality and careful management of ad load are crucial to keep drivers engaged, as they put a near-equal weight on interesting content and fewer commercials.

• 61% of vehicle owners said personalized content would make them much less likely to change channels, per Gracenote.
• However, a similar 59% said hearing fewer ads would inspire less channel flipping.

What CMOs should do: A brief window exists before in-car ecosystems mature and become harder to penetrate. Marketers should act now by:

• Experimenting with partnerships. Explore pilots with streaming partners, OEMs, or in-car media system providers.
• Designing “car-first” experiences. Adapt creative content and messaging to fit audio-first, hands-free environments, while testing tone and pacing.
• Establishing a cross-device identity. The same user may hear an ad on their commute and later shop from a brand’s site at home, making it crucial to connect the dots across contexts.
• Investing in personalization. Machine-learning strategies and contextual targeting could improve engagement rates and boost ad relevancy.