Connected vehicles are changing the nature of transportation and mobility. Players in the traditional automotive ecosystem—including retailers and marketers—are using the massive amounts of data connected cars produce to enhance brand loyalty, create new revenue streams, and drive business growth.

On today's episode, we discuss some secret exclusive 2022 predictions, a new form of conversational commerce, copying Clubhouse, why Big Tech shareholders want answers, what a digital butler in your car could help you with, how the shift to hybrid work affected women, the best methods for sticking to your New Year's resolutions, and more. Tune in to the discussion with eMarketer principal analyst Paul Verna, analyst Blake Droesch, senior forecasting analyst Peter Vahle, vice president of research Jennifer Pearson, associate producer of podcasts Victoria Grace, and vice president at Insider Intelligence Marissa Coslov.

On today's episode, we discuss what brand new forecasts the forecasting team cooked up in Q3, including global podcast listeners, 5G users, and connected car drivers. We then talk about heavy podcast listeners' receptiveness to ads, the rise of paywalls, and whether audio glasses can become a mass-market product. Tune in to the discussion with eMarketer senior forecasting analysts at Insider Intelligence Peter Vahle and Peter Newman.

A proliferation of connected cars, together with advancements in the quality and shareability of connected vehicle data, can pave the way for new opportunities for insurers. By 2025, almost 1 in 3 licensed drivers in the US will use connected cars with embedded systems, according to our forecast. 

We estimate that half of US adults now drive a connected car, which could push in-car spending to $1 billion by 2023, per Gartner. BlackBerry and Stripe dove in with car-based wallet tie-ups. Other adjacent partnerships from Visa and Amazon might foreshadow greater efforts. More device types will become payment terminals in the coming years.

Tesla is riding its strong momentum in car sales to expand into other areas. While robotaxis seem like a natural next step, the company’s delay of full self-driving, its controversial choice to eschew lidar in favor of computer vision, and safety investigations could all be substantial roadblocks.

But those belonging to the biggest potential audience are the 146.9 million connected car drivers that we estimate will hit US roads in 2022. Apple, Google, and Amazon all have smartphone apps—CarPlay, Android Auto, and Alexa Auto—for drivers to tether to car systems, or have signed agreements with carmakers to power built-in voice systems. Prediction.

Connected vehicles are changing how people think about mobility. They also have important implications for marketers, who are experimenting with ways to tap the data they produce to engage consumers and drive new revenues.

Huawei’s AV tech was showcased in a mass-produced Arcfox sedan, which used the tech giant’s chipset and in-car OS. If acquired, Huawei’s technology will bolster VW’s larger smart car and EV strategy. The company recently partnered with Argo AI in a joint effort with Ford. VW has long had autonomous vehicles on its radar.

As the underlying technology improves, expect to see new use cases for connected cars, healthcare, the metaverse, and more. Privacy and ethical challenges are here to stay. Consumers cite privacy and security risks as the biggest drawbacks of voice shopping, and their ethical concerns about AI-enabled tools are only growing. Brands now have no option but to address these issues at the root.

Mobility data: This is still very early, but connected cars, electric bikes, and other vehicles generate reams of data, including that on location. Traffic information in Google Maps or Waze is a good example of this (although currently, this data mostly comes from phones). Many companies are also relying more on their first-party data.

BMW and Amazon announced a 31-inch monitor with Fire TV that drops down and provides backseat passengers with an in-car theater experience. Volvo announced built-in Google Assistant features. Google partnered with Motorola to release a dongle that permits wireless support for Android Auto. Why It Matters. Like the smart home, connected cars are going to be new portals to the internet.

We expect GM’s exploration of in-car payments through OnStar to ramp up this year. If it does, Goldman could tether the card to a car-based wallet to attract spending as in-car payments become more common. It could also explore tie-ups with digital fuel and parking payment upstarts—or build financing relationships as US car purchases rise in 2022.

That share bounced back in October 2020, when in-car listening accounted for 28% of all audio listening, slightly down from its pre-pandemic levels. This shrinkage of in-car listening, and the subsequent growth of at-home listening, drove more listeners from traditional radio to digital audio options, which surpassed the former in time spent for the first time.