There is a lot of interest from both the manufacturing committee, the OEM's, and the general population regarding is on Connected Car angle - but why?  What does it mean?

 Having attended the Consumer Electronics Show in January 2011, the mood was that a connected car was all about in car electronics/entertainment.  I find this interpretation to be too limited; the connected car should look far beyond just entertainment, but the whole electronics experience/suite.  This should include maintenance functionality/wireless communication, intelligence vehicle-to-vehicle applications, mobile hotspots, and much more.

 What is interesting to explore is what this means for the supplier base.  What is the role of the traditional automotive supplier (stampings, plastics, interiors, powertrain)?  How will the supply chain adapt for the new technologies - will the existing companies expand their offerings, or are we looking at the entry of new automotive suppliers (such as Microsoft, Intel, etc)?  If new suppliers, will this maybe serve as a change catalyst for automotive supplier relationships?  Will PPAP apply to these offerings?

 This could be a critical inflection point in the automotive supply chain - what do you have to say about it?

Disclaimer:

The views expressed here are those of the author, and not necessarily of Export Development Canada

 Les vues exprimées dans ce propos sont celles de l'auteur. Elles ne reflètent pas nécessairement le point de vue d'EDC.