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Viewing report
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In-Car Entertainment Market Assessment
Key Note Publications Ltd, Jan 2000
The in-car entertainment (ICE) and accessories aftermarket is changing rapidly, due partly to the pace of technological change, and partly to the fact that car manufacturers are increasingly providing many accessories as standard features or optional extras.
Car ownership levels, which have a strong effect on the market, recovered during the second half of the 1990s, following a slow-down during the previous recession. However, it is anticipated that there will be a slight decrease in new registrations over the next year or so, as consumers wait to see if prices will fall following criticisms of the differential between new car prices in the UK and those in continental Europe.
Other factors which have had a positive effect on different sectors of the market include increased time spent in cars (beneficial to the ICE market) and growing traffic congestion (aiding demand for traffic information systems). Car crime has begun to level off after a steep rise during the early 1990s, due partly to greater attention to security in new car specifications. There has also been an increase in consumer awareness of the importance of quality and correct fitting where child car safety seats are concerned.
Market Assessment's consumer research for this report shows that, in terms of car accessories, safety and security are of equal importance to car owners, with a driver airbag and an immobiliser considered to be the most essential items. In-car entertainment comes a close third, although most respondents seem content with a fairly basic form of equipment: a radio/cassette player is twice as popular as an in-car CD (compact disc) player. Car accessories linked to communications (such as navigation equipment) tend to be lower on the list of essential items for consumers.
The vast majority of car owners and prospective owners would prefer car safety and security equipment to be fitted at the time of manufacture. A slightly smaller proportion would like ICE equipment to be fitted at the time of manufacture, rather than choosing their own equipment afterwards.
Although the steady rise in original equipment (OE) specifications for ICE equipment has had a detrimental effect on the lower end of the sector, many car owners are happy to upgrade their factory-installed equipment in order to benefit from the latest advances in technology. Recent developments in ICE include Digital Audio Broadcasting (DAB), which has been slow to take off but is expected to grow in the near future, as prices have begun to fall. In-car multimedia products are also becoming more of a mainstream choice, and a number of manufacturers are developing in-car computing.
Traffic information systems and in-car navigation systems are both relatively new developments which will also become more important in the near future.
Despite growing levels of car ownership, the aftermarket for car security products began to stagnate during the second half of the 1990s, mainly because car manufacturers have responded to growing levels of car crime by fitting security products as standard on new cars. In the case of less sophisticated products, such as manual steering wheel locks, sales have slowed down because these products do not generally need replacing when a car is changed, but are simply transferred to the new car.
There is a growing degree of overlap between market sectors within the car security market for example, a large number of products combine alarms and immobilisers, and some also incorporate tracking devices.
There is a move within the car security market towards more sophisticated security products, with professionally-fitted alarms and immobilisers gaining share at the expense of DIY and manual devices.
In the future, it is likely that most growth will be seen at the upper and lower ends of the car security market - both from car owners trading up to more sophisticated combination alarm/immobiliser products, and from those purchasing manual devices as additional visible deterrents. Prices for tracking devices will begin to fall within the next few years, making the products more accessible and adding value to the market as a whole.
Even though the birth rate has been falling, the market for child safety seats has grown more quickly than other sectors of the car accessories aftermarket. Among the factors responsible for this are the growing emphasis on in-car safety, and the renewed emphasis on comfort, convenience and styling within the sector.
The child car safety seat sector is expected to continue to show reasonable growth, mainly because of the continuing influence of the factors which helped the baby equipment market in general to survive, and grow, throughout the 1990s. Unlike many other sectors within the car accessories market, it is unlikely that child safety seats will become a standard OE item provided by manufacturers, and this growth will therefore benefit the aftermarket.
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