CE technology in the car - are you ready to keep up?

Keeping up with what consumers want can be as easy as following that Lamborghini Diablo in your Cadillac Seville – difficult at best. But don’t worry; we have some information that may give you the advantage you’ve been looking for. In April, CEA released the Consumer Technologies in the Automotive Environment survey. Designed to analyze what consumers currently have in their car and what they want to add in the future. The results provide some valuable insights into the mind of the average mobile customer.

CEA Director of Research, Joe Bates studied the results of the survey and concluded “The switch from analog to digital that is taking place in the home is also taking place in the automobile.”  

Take a look at some of the market data to see where Bates is coming from:

• More then a fourth of consumers currently own MP3 player equipment for their vehicles.
• Almost half of consumers expressed interest in a navigation system and in-vehicle safety devices.
• Digital technology directly contributed to the 27 percent increase in growth for mobile technology in 2005.

With data like this on the table, now is the perfect time to make sure your sales team is ready for technology hungry customers. To help you with this, Bates analysis of the survey identified five key types of consumers that are likely to walk through your doors:

1. Soccer Moms and Dads – Heavy mobile CE users and are more interested in entertainment options to help them relive stress and communicate.
   
   
2. In-Touch Travelers – Spend lots of time in the car and need to constantly be connected.
   
   
3. Telecommuters – Spend little time in their cars but prefer to be out-of-touch when they are in their car.
   
   
4. Bus Riders – Likely to be passengers or not own a car – yet still show interest in CD changers, speakers and security.
   
   
5. Little Old Lady from Pasadena – Least interested in mobile technology but don’t give up if they have strolled into your shop.

Whether they drive the Lamborghini or the Cadillac, identifying your customer’s needs and addressing them will make you more money. When your soccer mom or dad walks through the door, be sure to take them over to the DVD players and talk about how quiet the kids get when they can watch a movie while in the van. If Joe the in-touch traveler walks in, then show him the advantages of using a GPS navigation system with two-way speaker capability.

Most importantly, don’t be afraid to educate your customers and yourself. Knowing all the uses of a mobile device may help answer the few questions that were holding the consumer back from purchasing your products.

For more information on the survey please visit CEA Market Research.