Automotive HMI System Market

Market Overview

The global automotive HMI system market is anticipated to grow at a CAGR of 12.4% during the forecast period 2019-2026. The base year considered for the study is 2018.

HMI stands for Human-Machine Interface, which means interaction between humans and systems/machines/devices. HMI is also referred to as Man-Machine Interface (MMI), Operator Interface Terminal (OIT), Local Operator Interface (LOI), or Operator Terminal (OT). Moreover, HMI and Graphical User Interface (GUI) are similar concepts but not synonymous with each other. GUIs are often leveraged within HMIs for visualization capabilities. In various industries, HMI is used for visualizing display data, tracking production time, trends, tags, manage KPIs, and machine input and output monitoring, among others.

Nowadays, road traffic casualties pose key public health concerns, and such injuries can cause heavy financial strains and time consumption across the globe. According to a WHO report presented in 2018, approximately 1.35 million people die every year due to road traffic crashes, which costs most countries around 3% of their gross domestic product. Moreover, 93% of fatalities on the roads occur in developing or below poverty-line countries. Hence, to tackle such situations, many government initiatives and renowned public safety groups of many countries are working toward reducing road fatalities and injuries. For instance, the U.K. government has designed an action plan to improve road safety for people, which includes a number of projects, such as banning tires that have aged 10 years or more and old buses, coaches, minibusses, and lorries. Moreover, the Road Collision Investigation project, along with the RAC Foundation, is also ongoing.

Following are the Human Machine Interface (HMI) design principles that increase driver’s trust.

• informs passengers about AV use phases (pre-use, learning, driving, etc.)
• informs passengers about autonomous driving events (entering vehicle, activation, manual mode, transition mode, autonomous driving mode, etc.)
• considers factors that affect trust (asking for feedback, informing about errors, and providing confidentiality and customization)
• smartly adopts HMI design elements during user interactions

Product Life Cycle

The automotive HMI system is gaining traction among the car manufacturers and is expected to increase product sales, revenues, and profits in the upcoming years. The automotive HMI system is in its developing stage, and a significant number of technology launches are projected to take place in the near future across the globe.

Market Dynamics

Rising Demand for Enhanced User Interface and Assisted Features

Many drivers are expected to make calls, respond to social media networking, listen to media, and search nearest locations; all of these while driving. These factors show the requirement of in-car engagement platforms that help to drive the automotive HMI system market. However, such factors increase the risk of road accidents due to distraction. Thus, OEMs and automobile manufacturers have initiated the deployment of complex multi-modal automotive user interfaces that work simultaneously with priority information and significantly reduce accidental risks. For instance, in September 2019, Denso Corporation and BlackBerry announced their collaboration for launching the first integrated HMI (Human Machine Interface) digital cockpit system with BlackBerry's QNX technology, which has been deployed into a Japanese OEM vehicle named Subaru. It makes the vehicle more data-driven, secure and automated with trusted in-vehicle software.

There are significant ongoing developments in voice technology or voice-assisted functionality system, which is an integral part/feature of HMI. Moreover, many companies are working on hand gesture or facial expression control function, which is expected to be a profitable and beneficial technology for automotive HMI systems in the near future.

Growing Demand for Connected Vehicles as well as Hybrid and Electric Vehicles

After years of continuous research and development for manufacturing connected cars, we are at the tip of the final production process. There are a number of prominent car manufacturers, such as Tesla, BMW, Audi, Mercedes Benz, Volvo, and Porsche, among others, that are collaborating for connected car projects. For instance, Texas Instruments, a semiconductor and integrated circuit manufacturer, has developed a processor based on Human Machine Interface (HMI) for EV charging infrastructure, which is a cost-effective solution for EV Supply Equipment (EVSE).

For connected cars, AI-based HMI focuses on driver controls, driver/passenger monitoring/safety, and infotainment system. Most automobile experts believe that the connected car market, with the help of aftermarket devices, will grow rapidly in the upcoming years, and the fully autonomous vehicle era is projected to grow consistently due to changing regulatory and technical challenges.

High Cost of Automotive HMI System

The implementation of human-machine interface elements in the automotive industry is costly, and the concept and advantages of these are quite new for customers to expand the use in current selling cars. Moreover, customers will be required to pay extra for such convenient technologies for their vehicles. Also, the collaboration between car manufacturers and HMI system providers is not that strong, which might be hampering the growth of the automotive HMI System market.

Paradigm Shift in Consumer Needs from Automotive Industry

The automotive industry is one of the largest and fastest-growing industries in the world. The end-users are expecting technical advancements and implementation into their vehicles with more safety and security of both passengers and cars along with appropriate pricing. The OEMs and vehicle manufacturers have to match the consumer needs to grow in the market rapidly by coming up with unique ideas and need to be willing to make large investments to fulfill the requirements. For instance, Tata Elxsi, a subsidiary of Tata Group, Indian technology, and designing company, is creating an independent layer of HMI, which is generally called the abstraction layer, where the HMI can become independent of the rest of the technology or the hardware and software system within the vehicle.

Technology Trends

HMI guarantees transformation of the driving experience with the use of smartphone integration, using Apple CarPlay or Android Auto to stream music or make calls by mutating the phone screen in the car’s in-dash information and entertainment unit.

Smartphone Integration

Smartphone integration is no longer a new technology for car connectivity as it is now coming with most vehicle models. It provides a seamless experience to the driver for connecting phone to car’s infotainment system and access all of its functions via installed apps and connected car software. For instance, Apple CarPlay and Android Auto app allow navigation, sending and responding to messages, making phone calls, playing music, and listening to podcasts or audiobooks; all of these on tap or voice-assist activation whilst still ensuring the driver’s focus on the road.

Voice-Assist and Voice Guidance Interface

Similar to smart speakers used in houses, drivers expect to ask or guide Siri or Google while driving according to their convenience. At present, the car voice assistance segment is depicting significant market growth. According to a survey conducted in the U.S. by Voicebot.ai in 2019, around 77 million drivers use voice assistants in their cars at least once in a month, and 64.9% of drivers use a voice assistant provided by the auto manufacturer. For instance, in 2018, Mercedes-Benz showcased a new proprietary voice assistant similar to Siri and Google Assist that can sense the temperature of the car and adjust it through voice commands.

Secure Functions with HMI Safety

Newer technologies, such as anti-theft and recognition of driver distraction/drowsiness, are making an entry-level performance and have tremendous scope for improvement. This software embedded with HMI provides customer satisfaction by offering add-ons, such as keyless entry to vehicles, biometrics (including fingerprint or eye scan), remote access to a car with smartphone app, car cybersecurity, and voice recognition technology for an additional layer of security. Conversational AI embedded into vehicles can engage in a dialog with the driver whenever tiredness levels build up. For instance, in September 2019, General Motors announced the adaptation of digital AI-based solutions offered by Aivo, which specializes in conversational AI for customer service.

Assisted Personalized Driving

The adaptive cruise control feature in cars is a popular technology that has been introduced to the automobile industry for assisted driving. In January 2019 at Consumer Electronics Show (CES), Samsung and HARMAN International introduced their next and most innovative digital cockpit platform that heightens personalization, connectivity, and safety through a suite of IoT solutions.

Segmental Analysis

End-User

End-users of the Automotive HMI System can be bifurcated into the following:

• Passenger Vehicles
• Commercial Vehicles

Regional Analysis

The regional structure of the automotive HMI system market is dominated by North America as it has captured the largest market share in terms of XX% of revenue in the year 2018. North America has witnessed the greatest number of adopters.

Europe is closely following North America. A key reason for this is the presence of a significant number of prominent manufacturers such as Continental AG, Delphi Automotive PLC, Valeo S.A., Robert Bosch GmbH, and Magneti Marelli S.P.A, among others. These leading vendors have captured the market and have a higher reach in Europe due to their extensive marketing campaigns, investments, and collaborations with dominant automakers in the industry.

Asia-Pacific is the fastest-growing region, which is anticipated to grow at a CAGR of XX% during the forecast period and is also projected to reach USD XX million by 2026. The focus of manufacturers is to launch an automotive HMI system simultaneously with connected cars, as the market is untapped in some Asia-Pacific countries. Hence, there is an increased investment in the field of IoT and AI-based cars. Also, China is expected to lead Asia-Pacific as it manufactures a significant amount of vehicles. For instance, according to the International Organization of Motor Vehicle Manufacturers, China manufactured approximately 27.8 million vehicles in 2018.

Recent Developments

• In September 2016, Continental AG developed a system that assists truck drivers while making turns. The system is named ‘ProViu Detect’. It eliminates the risk of blind spots and works actively to warn the driver in situations of possible collisions, thus ensuring driver and passenger safety
• In October 2016, Valeo S.A. acquired a 50% capital stake of CloudMade (U.K.). CloudMade is a start-up that develops smart and innovative automotive solutions. Valeo’s investment in ColudMade provides financial and technological support for innovative developments
• In November 2016, Delphi collaborated with Intel and Mobileye for self-driving cars. Intel provides specialized computer chips to Delphi, an auto supplier, and Mobileye as the provider of vision systems for self-driving technology

Technological Landscape

With the collection of different HMI technologies, specifically in the automotive sector, it is important to choose prominent suppliers in a well-structured approach instead of choosing cost-attractive suppliers that might hamper productive growth in the future.

What’s Next?

The principal approach of integrating HMI in automobiles is not only limited to enabling technology but also to co-relate with other developing and implemented technologies specifically for automobiles as they are interdependent on each other. However, looking at present conditions, the automotive sector has fewer restrictions on developing and choosing technologies to set particular standards and guidelines for the future.

According to our research conducted for the automobile industry, it has been observed that 2018 has had the most electric vehicles launched to date. However, from 2019 we are expecting that charging infrastructure will start implementing in major developed countries. Additionally, vehicles manufactured will be more AI-based (smart cars), interactive, and connected to other vehicles and will eventually replace the old ones. It can simply be termed as the ‘ACES’ era of the automobile industry (i.e. A-Autonomous driving, C-Connected cars, E-Electrification, and S-Smart mobility).

Automotive HMI System Market Segmentation

By Product

• Instrument Cluster
• Multifunction Switches
• Steering-Mounted Controls
• Central Display
• Rear Seat Entertainment Display
• Head-Up Display

By Vehicle Type

• Passenger Vehicle
• Commercial Vehicle

By Interface

• Visual
• Acoustic
• Mechanical

By Access Type

• Standard
• Multimodal

By Regions

• North America
• Europe
• Asia Pacific
• South America
• The Middle East and Africa