Malaysians Can Look Forward To In-Vehicle Infotainment Technology, Says Accenture

KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 29 (Bernama) -- Technology-savvy Malaysians can expect the in-vehicle infotainment (IVI) technology, which involves communication and information systems in vehicles, to come here eventually. Accenture products senior executive, Terence Foo, said the IVI technology would have a bright future here because there was a big awareness of the technology, a young population and a number of carmakers here. The IVI is a set of solutions and applications for vehicles that address various customer priorities, such as entertainment, safety, maintenance, communication and navigation. "We believe there is a bright future for IVI in Malaysia as many car buyers here, who are mostly young people, are interested in portable devices. "The technology will also have carmakers find their way to differentiate themselves in the matured market place," he told a media roundtable here Wednesday. Foo said the IVI would probably feature more in the luxury and mid-sized car segments but because of consumer demand it would evolve over time to be cost-effective for the compact cars. He said at the moment, Accenture was looking to collaborate with major original equipment manufacturers among the European carmakers to provide the IVI features. "Talks are still in the progress with a number of parties," he said. Meanwhile, a Accenture and Coleman Parkes survey on IVI technology, showed that 92 per cent of the local respondents liked their cars to have automated breakdown calling capability and 82 per cent wanted traffic-avoidance feature. Accenture said about 81 per cent favoured having a stolen vehicle recovery systems, 77 per cent the use of an automated emergency call capability and 72 per cent preferred to have a feature that would stop the vehicle and automatically send out an emergency call in a dire medical situation. The survey of 7,000 drivers across seven countries, including 1,000 in Malaysia, was about their preferences for in-car safety, anti-theft and entertainment technologies. -- BERNAMA