Insight: Your connected car knows you. The tussle for that data's hitting high gear

Free2Move Holding AB

14/03/2022 06:00

By Nick Carey
    LONDON, March 14 (Reuters) - Where you go. What you pass.
Where you stop. What you listen to. What you watch. Your good
habits. Your bad habits. 
    Companies in Europe and beyond are vying for control of the
crown jewels of the connected car era: your vehicle's data. 
    The contest is entering a pivotal phase as EU regulators
look to hammer out the world's first laws for the ballooning
industry around web-enabled vehicles, pitting carmakers against
a coalition of insurers, leasing companies and repair shops.
    European Commission sources said the EU executive should
launch an industry consultation on in-vehicle data this week
which could lead to legislation later this year - the first of
its kind globally.  
    Many companies view data as the gold of the new wired world,
though for some it's more akin to air or water.
    "If you don't have access to data in the future, eventually
you'll be squeezed out," says Tim Albertsen, CEO of ALD
 ALDA.PA , Societe Generale's  SOGN.PA  car leasing division,
which commands millions of vehicles. 
    "You'll not be efficient, you'll not have the right
services, you just can't operate at the end of the day."
    Car manufacturers, guarding their gatekeeper role in
accessing data from their vehicles, have resisted specific
regulations for in-vehicle data, saying that protecting
consumers is paramount. 
    "Europe's auto industry is committed to giving access to the
data generated by the vehicles it produces," said a spokesperson
for the European Automobile Manufacturers' Association (ACEA).
"However, uncontrolled access to in-vehicle data poses major
safety, (cyber) security, data protection and privacy threats." 
 
    Yet the companies lined up against them say limiting or
charging what they deem unfair amounts for access to in-vehicle
data could kill off competition for carmakers who already
operate their own leasing firms, car subscription services and
repair shops.
    In some cases, they say carmakers are already restricting
access to vehicle data and charging independent repair shops
more for access. 
    "The manufacturers are in direct contact with the vehicle,
so they get all the data," says Sylvia Gotzen, CEO of the
International Federation of Automotive Aftermarket Distributors,
or FIGIEFA, which is part of a broader alliance of repair shops
and parts makers that employs 3.5 million people in Europe. 
    "They get the full buffet and all we get is some crumbs."
        
    CARMAKERS: WE SHARE DATA
    Vehicle manufacturers have big plans for data.
    For example Stellantis  STLA.MI , the world's No. 4
carmaker, expects to generate 20 billion euros ($22.4 billion)
annually by 2030 from software products and subscription
services. Such offerings are also central to General Motors'
 GM.N  plan to double annual revenue to around $280 billion.
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    Volkswagen  VOWG_p.DE  said data is becoming the "key source
of value creation and innovation", adding that customers have
"full control" over it, citing vehicle security and customer
sovereignty as its main focuses.
    BMW  BMWG.DE  rejected suggestions it was withholding data. 
    The German company said it can share nearly 100 data points
with third parties if drivers requested it and could make more
available if companies prove a real business need for them and a
willingness to take responsibility for cybersecurity risks. Auto
supplier groups like FIGIEFA say carmakers can access thousands
of data points. 
    A BMW spokesperson said the carmaker would like all sides to
sit down with a mediator such as the European Commission and
hammer out a list of data points that is acceptable to everyone.
    Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares told reporters on Friday that
the carmaker aggregated data, which cost money, and so needed to
be paid for it. He cited, as an example, data that Stellantis
sells to cities to measure how often anti-lock braking systems
are engaged at junctions and gauge which are the most dangerous.
    "It is not only collecting the data, it is also about
crunching the data in a way that is going to create value for
somebody willing to pay for it," Tavares said.    
   
    'DATA IS ABSOLUTELY KEY'    
    Yet other companies in the auto ecosystem, such as ALD, say
they want the European Union to ensure a level playing field
    ALD, in the process of buying Dutch rival LeasePlan to give
it a combined fleet of 3.5 million vehicles, has a car-sharing
platform that needs to run diagnostics, read the odometer, check
the fuel gauge and switch cars between users.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL8N2TM0U4
    It also offers an insurance product that lowers your premium
based on good driving behaviour - monitoring how you accelerate
and brake. 
    "Access to data is absolutely key for us to provide the
services we do today," CEO Albertsen said. 
    To extract car data, ALD plugs a wireless "dongle" into the
vehicle that transmits information to an in-house developed
platform that it pays U.S. startup Vinli to operate. Carmakers
running similar services get that data directly, putting ALD at
a competitive disadvantage, Albertsen said.
    Stellantis, for instance, offers car sharing and rentals
through its Free2Move unit. Volkswagen could take over rental
company Europcar  EUCAR.PA  to take advantage of car sharing and
subscription services.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N2P422H
    And most major carmakers have their own leasing units, like
BMW's Alphabet and Mercedes-Benz's  MBGn.DE  Athlon.
    ALD's Albertsen said major fleet customers were willing to
pay for the data but that he wanted regulations to ensure ALD's
car-sharing unit paid the same as, for instance, Stellantis
charges its own Free2Move division.

    RISKS FOR REPAIR SHOPS
    Insurers and car repair shops say it is paramount that the
EU let drivers choose who accesses their vehicles' data.
    "There is a need to regulate this, as you cannot leave this
in the hands of car manufacturers," said Nicolas Jeanmart,
industry group Insurance Europe's head of personal and general
insurance. "It should be for each driver to decide what they
want to do with their data."
    FIGIEFA's Gotzen said that would allow car owners to link 
their preferred repair shop to their car and have it run remote
diagnostics if they had car trouble, instead of relying solely
on the manufacturer's recommendations.
    "All of this is technically possible now, but we are
hampered because car manufacturers prevent us from doing this,"
she said.
    She said FIGIEFA's members are willing to adopt carmakers'
cybersecurity processes and requirements, but added
cybersecurity could serve as an excuse for carmakers to restrict
access.
    Richard Knubben, deputy director general of Leaseurope,
which represents Europe's leasing and car rental firms, said the
longer the EU took to legislate car data, the more independent
repair shops are at risk of going out of business because they
lack access to it.
    "By the time we get legislation we may already be stuck with
an imbalance that we can't fix anymore," Knubben said. 
    ($1 = 0.8920 euros)


 (Reporting by Nick Carey; Additional reporting by Victoria
Waldersee in Berlin, Gilles Guillaume in Paris, Carolyn Cohn and
Huw Jones in London; Editing by Pravin Char)
 ((nick.carey@thomsonreuters.com; +44 7385 414 954;))