Investment Opportunity in Connected-Car Data
Rob Minton is an automotive and business development professional with over 40 years of experience, including 25 years in automotive, commercial fleet, and telematics. As Principal Consultant at AutoMobility Advisors and President of RevvedUP Strategies, he helps companies develop go-to-market strategies, build strategic partnerships, and drive sales and margin growth. His expertise spans B2B sales, negotiations, and strategic communications, supported by his experience in connected-car business development at Geotab and his involvement with the Connected Vehicle Trade Association. In this article, Rob explores how connected-vehicle data can be transformed into commercially valuable products for OEMs and fleet operators. He explains why actionable insights, such as vehicle location, odometer readings, and fuel levels, can deliver measurable operational benefits, particularly in vehicle rental and commercial fleet management. The article examines how remote vehicle controls, including door locking, climate pre-conditioning, and remote start, can create recurring revenue opportunities as vehicles become increasingly software-defined. It also highlights predictive maintenance, advanced diagnostics, and driver-behaviour analytics as opportunities to improve fleet efficiency, reduce costs, and manage risk. For investors, the discussion identifies potential growth areas in connected-car services, data monetisation, and subscription-based business models. The central insight is that automotive value creation may increasingly depend on OEMs enabling fleet owners to use vehicle data effectively, rather than simply owning the data themselves. Readers will gain a clearer understanding of the commercial opportunities shaping the connected-vehicle ecosystem.
Q1. In developing embedded-data strategies with OEMs, what determines whether connected-vehicle data becomes a commercially valuable product rather than simply another data stream?
The key is ensuring the right data signals are offered. By that, I mean signals that are relevant to commercial fleet users, which are different than what a consumer might be willing to pay for. The types of data that a fleet operator needs to run their business (and have demonstrated a willingness to pay for) are much more granular than the standard "phone app" data OEMs collect for consumer use.
Q2. Across the OEM, fleet, and mobility partnerships you have developed, which connected-vehicle use cases have shown the clearest path to measurable revenue or cost savings?
The value proposition of telematics to franchise rental operators runs the full cycle of the vehicle rental process. Using data can have an immediate return on investment from rent start to rent finish, as well as during the prep stage for the next rental. Telematics data such as odometer readings, vehicle locations, and accurate fuel levels are essential for rental car fleet operators to optimize their operations and increase profits. The benefits of telematics data far exceed the cost of …
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