New Delhi, Jan 17 (IANS): Global connected car sales grew 28 per cent (on-year) in Q3 2023, and every 2 out of 3 cars sold had embedded connectivity in them, a report showed on Wednesday.

China led with around 33 per cent share in global connected car sales, followed by the US and Europe, according to latest research from Counterpoint’s Global Connected Car Sales Tracker.

These top three regions constituted more than 75 per cent of the global connected car sales in the third quarter last year.

Germany has the highest share of connected cars in its passenger car sales owing to the initial government push towards connected vehicles through mandates like eCall.

"After Germany, the US, France, and the UK have the highest share of connected cars in their respective passenger car sales," said senior analyst Soumen Mandal.

With the increasing adoption of electric vehicles and autonomous vehicles, the connectivity penetration in a car is increasing.

4G still dominates this space with more than 95 per cent sales share, while 5G adoption is slower than the industry’s projections earlier.

"The lack of robust 5G infrastructure along the highways, non-availability of unique 5G use cases within the car, and supply chain issues are some of the reasons for slower adoption of 5G in passenger cars," Mandal aded.

The top five automotive groups accounted for nearly 45 per cent of the connected cars sold in Q3 2023.

"Toyota Group led the charts in terms of shipments with a 12 per cent sales share, closely followed by the Volkswagen Group. GM Group, Hyundai Kia Automotive Group and Stellantis were the other three in the top five," said Mandal.

"The connectivity in cars is slowly gaining preference in developing economies too and becoming the main differentiator in the market.

“It is expected that more than 95 per cent of all new passenger cars will have embedded connectivity by 2030. 2026 will likely be the inflection point for adopting 5G in automotive applications," Vice President, Research, Neil Shah said.