J.D. Power and HARMAN have teamed up to provide OEMs with better insight into consumer preferences using connected car data. The goal is to help enrich the customer experience, solve problems more effectively and help identify what consumers want from their increasingly automated vehicles.
With the rapid emergence of new technology in the automotive industry, understanding driver behavior and preferences within the vehicle is more crucial than ever for automakers, J.D. Power said. Together with HARMAN, J.D. Power will go beyond measuring consumer insights to help automakers around the world better measure and understand how their evolving products are satisfying customer needs.
“Having been on the OEM side for most of my career, I know the industry has been looking for this kind of solution for a long time,” said Doug Betts, senior vice president of global automotive at J.D. Power. “It was easy to dream, but getting it done takes a skill set that no single company has. The alliance of our two companies can credibly deliver the dream of merging consumer and vehicle data to provide a clear view of cause and effect.”
HARMAN Ignite, an automotive cloud solution, enables a unique view into driver usage patterns, and when combined with J.D. Power consumer data, will provide functional-level insights into how consumers are interacting with the systems and what they may want from the in-car experience. With this service, OEMs and suppliers can identify areas that can be improved and ultimately bring desired features and functions to market faster.
“J.D. Power has the most thorough understanding of automotive consumer satisfaction of any company in the industry,” said Sanjay Dhawan, president, HARMAN Connected Services and HARMAN chief technology officer. “With HARMAN’s connected car, software and integration expertise, we are set to realize the exciting potential of connected cars, including enhanced safety, greater performance, and more immersive and personalized experiences.”
In cooperation with OEMs, data only will be collected from consumers who opt in to share their data. This data will be anonymized and aggregated to protect consumer privacy.
