•    Precise and fresh maps are essential to meet regulatory requirements and enhance growing vehicle safety and convenience standards.
•    HERE has been the leading player, offering highly accurate, reliable, and fresh map content to European automakers for their in-vehicle navigation offerings.
•    The barriers to entry in delivering advanced map content is increasing, resulting in only a few players with the capability to offer automotive grade navigation maps.

London, Seoul, Beijing, Hong Kong, Taipei, Tokyo, New Delhi, San Diego, Buenos Aires – December 02, 2024

The significance of precise and up-to-date mapping data is rapidly increasing, particularly with the rise of advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) and the introduction of regulations such as Intelligent Speed Assistance (ISA) and Road Alerts for New Car Assessment Program (NCAP). The role of maps in the modern world goes beyond simply guiding drivers from point A to point B. Maps can understand the road features and conditions, recognize the speed limits, and provide timely alerts. Hence, the need for high-quality maps becomes vital to enhance vehicle safety and driving convenience.

Despite the increasing significance of maps, there are not many players in the mapping industry due to high barriers in building and maintaining fresh maps. Only four mapping companies namely HERE, TomTom, Google and Mapbox are offering their map data for global (ex-China) in-vehicle navigation coverage to automotive OEMs. Europe and North America are some of the key regions where Auto OEMs integrate mapping and navigation within the vehicle.

Europe, one of the key markets for mapping providers, is home to a number of automotive OEMs. HERE holds the lion’s share (59%) of the map data content licensing for in-vehicle navigation in Europe, followed by TomTom with a 31% market share. Together, they captured more than 80% of the market in H1 2024, according to Counterpoint’s Europe In-Vehicle Navigation Tracker.

Commenting on HERE Technologies' impressive market performance, Counterpoint Research Analyst Mohit Sharma said, “HERE has consistently ranked first in Counterpoint’s Location Platform Effectiveness Index for the past seven years which is a testament to its superiority. It provides versatile, fresh and advanced in-vehicle mapping content for most of the OEMs shipping their cars in Europe. This sustained success can be attributed to HERE’s proactive approach to addressing industry challenges through innovative offerings such as UniMap, important content such as ISA maps and more. For example, the launch of Level 3 ADAS/AD technology by Mercedes and BMW are powered by HERE HD Live Map, which underscores the trust and exceptional quality of HERE’s map data.”

The growing advancements in AI have given rise to automated map-making systems that can process vast amounts of data rapidly with fewer human inputs, such as HERE’s UniMap. This leads to faster map updates and shorter refresh time ultimately enhancing the map’s freshness coverage and data depth. The quality of map data is closely correlated with EV user experience. Therefore, accurate map data is crucial for the success of new-generation vehicles such as EVs because it helps EV users plan their routes more efficiently and locate charging stations, thus elevating the EV experience by alleviating range anxiety.

AI will play a key role in automated maps as automakers add more sensors to move from ADAS to ADS levels. There is an ongoing debate over whether maps are essential for self-driving technology to move to a mapless technology. Some automakers are adopting Tesla's approach by utilizing end-to-end autonomous driving (E2E AD) technology, which relies on perception and trying to make a case for eliminating the need for HD maps. Developing these high-definition maps can be expensive, time-consuming, and resource-intensive. However, Counterpoint believes that High-definition (HD) maps are more reliable and will be crucial for the safety of autonomous vehicles as they enable the best accuracy with deeper sensor stack integration on one end and silicon-level optimization on the other end. So, for high-precision positioning, a high-quality sensor feedback overlay brings a real-time and reliable high-definition navigation experience.

Commenting on these market dynamics Counterpoint Vice President Neil Shah stated, “With electrification and autonomy being the two key trends driving the next generation driving experience, the role of map content suppliers has become paramount for safer and reliable navigation. However, the barriers to entry in the map-making industry are growing and being successful in the mapping and navigation space is becoming increasingly difficult as the industry moves to the Automotive 2.0 era. Further, as safety becomes crucial, regulatory limitations can pose further barriers and challenges for new entrants. It remains to be seen how Google and Mapbox will offer HERE- or TomTom-level automotive-grade solutions consistently and at scale.”

“Further, regional champions like NavInfo, Zenrin, Naver, MapmyIndia from China, Japan, South Korea and India, respectively, are trying to build and maintain maps confined to their geographies and will also need to scale up to embrace these new trends.”

The comprehensive and in-depth ‘Europe In-vehicle Navigation Tracker, H1 2024' is now available for purchase at our Research portal. Feel free to reach us at [email protected] for questions regarding our latest research and insights.

Background
Counterpoint Technology Market Research is a global research firm specializing in products in the TMT (technology, media, and telecom) industry. It services major technology and financial firms with a mix of monthly reports, customized projects, and detailed analyses of the mobile and technology markets. Its key analysts are seasoned experts in the high-tech industry.

Follow Counterpoint Research

press(at)counterpointresearch.com