Agero Insights

What if your car could call for help after an accident, predict a breakdown before it happens, or even recover itself if stolen? As automakers know, this isn't science fiction—it's the reality of today's connected vehicle safety features.

The automotive industry has ushered in an era of vehicle intelligence for safety. Most new passenger cars and trucks are capable of automatically transmitting information to the manufacturer, the driver, or emergency services for specific vehicle events, such as collisions or reported theft. However, the appreciation of these innovations often goes unrealized, as many drivers lack awareness and a clear understanding of the time-saving, cost-saving, and even life-saving benefits they offer.

At Agero, we are familiar with this gap between vehicle safety technology and consumer awareness. As the leading provider of white-label roadside and accident assistance, our business runs in insights. To stay up to date on consumer perceptions and preferences around connected vehicle safety features, we recently conducted in-depth interviews with a range of consumers across luxury and value auto brands, learning how familiar consumers are with these capabilities, expectations for how they might work, and how valuable they are to the typical new car buyer.

The findings reveal that bridging the awareness gap requires automakers to move beyond simply offering advanced technology; it requires a focus on packaging, communicating, and delivering these features in a way that feels essential to consumers; not optional. Here are four insights automakers can leverage to help consumers have a greater appreciation for connected vehicle safety features and utilize them to their full extent.

TURNING AWARENESS INTO APPRECIATION: STORYTELLING POTENTIAL USE CASES IN THE PRE AND POST PURCHASE PHASES

New car owners typically fall into two camps: 1) those who are unaware that their vehicle possesses connected safety features, and 2) those who are aware in a vague sense, but their understanding often stops there. Many openly admit to not knowing the full scope of their vehicle’s safety capabilities and their practical implications – what they are, how they work, and how they can truly benefit drivers. With this limited understanding, the perceived value of these features is similarly limited. However, when these features are explained clearly, interest – and willingness to pay – increases. For example:

This underscores the important value consumers place on functionalities that transform stressful situations into seamless solutions, as powerfully articulated by one driver:

The consumers we spoke with expressed that connected safety features are usually only mentioned in passing during the car shopping and purchase experience, and that they actually expected to learn about these features either at the dealership or through email or other customer communication channels.

Automakers have an opportunity to bridge the awareness gap by ensuring consumers understand the full range of these features at the get-go – beginning in the pre-purchase phase and well after. Providing more formalized training, education, and storytelling to give consumers in-depth explanations and guidance about what each safety feature is, what it does, how it works, and why it’s beneficial is paramount. One-on-one appointments, informational landing pages, video or live demonstrations, and utilizing various customer communication channels with access to this hub of information are a few ways to achieve this.

When car dealers and manufacturers include this type of communication and service early and often in the car buying process, it not only reinforces the perceived value of connected vehicle safety features, but an appreciation for something far more important: enhanced safety and protection for drivers and their loved ones on the road. Offering this peace of mind is something automakers should receive credit for.

CONSUMERS WANT OPTIONS: OFFERING CONTROL OF CONNECTED VEHICLE DATA PLAYS A CRUCIAL ROLE IN USAGE AND ADOPTION 

Accidents and roadside events traditionally involve coordinating with various entities – from insurance providers for claims assistance to law enforcement for scene management, tow truck dispatchers for vehicle recovery, and dealerships or service centers for repairs. The ability of modern vehicles to directly communicate with these parties understandably raises questions for consumers about the "what", "how" and “when” data is shared.

To understand these concerns, we asked consumers about their comfort level with automatic communication and discovered a strong desire for user agency: consumers want to retain control over when and how connected services share their information with third parties like insurers and dealerships.

This interest in control manifests in specific ways across different scenarios:

1. Insurance Notification: When it comes to automatic notification to insurance carriers regarding roadside assistance or accident response, consumers are primarily concerned about potential premium increases. As one participant articulated, “I would want to contact the insurance personally because if I wasn't at fault, then the person who was at fault should be contacting the insurance company. I’m wary of anything that has the potential to increase premiums.
   
   
2. Preventative Maintenance Communication: Similarly, when it comes to preventative maintenance, consumers expressed apprehension about dealerships using connected vehicle safety data for sales outreach. Consequently, they want granular control over the type of information shared with dealerships and the methods by which they can be contacted. One consumer emphasized this need for choice, stating, “I want to choose if I receive notifications from dealerships through the app, a text message, or email, or if I want the dealer to contact me directly. I like having those options that I can opt in and opt out of.”
   
   
3. Safety Notifications for Guardians: Interestingly, our research also uncovered a significant opportunity for automakers to enhance the value proposition of connected vehicle safety features: notifications for guardians of secondary drivers. Caretakers demonstrated a greater likelihood of subscribing to connected vehicle safety features if they could receive timely alerts regarding the safety of secondary drivers using their vehicle (e.g., a spouse, child, or elderly parent). As one caretaker poignantly shared:

When it comes to addressing consumer anxieties surrounding data privacy, providing customizable communication preferences is critical. Automakers hold the key to building trust by giving consumers granular control over what, when, and how communication with external entities take place. 

Ultimately, granting consumers this level of control over data sharing and communication preferences, coupled with the introduction of valuable features like safety notifications for guardians, directly enhances the perceived value of connected vehicle safety features. When individuals feel confident that their data is secure, used responsibly, and subject to their own management, they are more likely to embrace and actively utilize these technologies, transforming them from potential sources of concern into trusted tools for safety and convenience.

REFRAMING “CONNECTED VEHICLE” FROM INDUSTRY JARGON TO MORE USER-CENTRIC LANGUAGE IS KEY TO CHIPPING AWAY AT THE AWARENESS BARRIER

The concerns surrounding data privacy and control are not isolated. In fact, they’re often compounded by the way the industry itself talks about these advanced capabilities. Today's cars, brimming with sensors and data-driven solutions, are frequently marketed using the umbrella term "connected vehicle" – a label that, as our research suggests, fails to truly connect with drivers.

Instead, consumers tend to associate these functionalities with specific branded services they are familiar with, such as OnStar for emergency assistance. This reliance on industry jargon poses a significant barrier to adoption.

Automakers can remove this barrier by communicating the benefits of their connected vehicle safety features in more intuitive and relatable ways, such as focusing on core value propositions, emphasizing the problems they solve, and highlighting desired outcomes. Leveraging this approach not only enables consumers to better understand these technological safety features, but also increases appreciation, interest, and adoption.

STREAMLINING THE ACCESSIBILITY OF CONNECTED SAFETY FEATURES ADDS TO PERCEIVED VALUE WHILE REMOVING USER FRICTION 

Lastly, our research shows that consumers are looking to OEMs to provide easy and transparent pathways for purchasing and managing connected vehicle safety features. There's a strong inclination among consumers for these safety services to be bundled into the vehicle's price for a more straightforward ownership experience.

To address these concerns, automakers can continue to streamline the purchasing and management process in the following ways:

• Offer safety feature bundles at point of sale for simplified consumer decision making
• Integrate one-click purchasing or renewal within the app using saved payment methods
• Provide lifetime or extended plans at purchase that illustrate clear cost savings over time

Ultimately, our findings highlight a fundamental disconnect between the advanced safety technology embedded in today’s vehicles, and consumers’ awareness and understanding of its value. While these features hold immense potential, realizing widespread adoption hinges on automakers taking a more user-centric approach. The challenge moving forward isn't solely about innovation, but about simplifying communication, empowering consumers with data control and customizable preferences, and ensuring clear education about connected vehicle safety features from pre-purchase through ownership. The question for OEMs isn't just what cutting-edge safety features to offer, but how to make them intuitively understood, easily accessible, and truly appreciated as indispensable tools for drivers and their loved ones.