Security issues are driving demand for smart car apps in Latin America

The connected car market — that is, cars that are connected to the internet — reached 9m live apps in Latin America in 2016, an increase of 18.4 percent from the year before.

There are going to be a whopping 19.1m connected car apps live in the region by the end of 2021, according to the latest GlobalData research.

Given Latin America’s security issues and high car robbery and crime rates, connected car apps such as theft alerts, stolen vehicle recovery systems, tracking systems, and remote access apps will grow significantly over the next years at a rate of 13.1 percent between 2016 and 2021.

Despite an increase of other connected car applications, such as usage-based insurance systems, and embedded infotainment, security applications will represent the vast majority of the connected car connections throughout the forecast period, with 81.2 percent share at year-end 2021.