Frost and Sullivan Note Canadian Safety Stats

New analysis from Frost & Sullivan’s Automotive & Transportation group projects that the Canadian active safety systems and safety restraints markets will generate approximately US$700 million in 2010.
Frost & Sullivan’s recent analysis surveyed 1,200 Canadians who purchased or leased a new light vehicle in the past four years.
Respondents answered questions on their safety awareness, perceptions of current safety systems, collision vulnerability, perceptions of vehicle safety, privacy and driver control, preferred systems, pedestrian protection, purchase preferences, and purchase influence.
Typically, vehicle makers introduce new technologies in upscale vehicles at high prices. Over time, they redesign the systems to reduce costs, even as they become more effective, and volume builds, which allows manufacturers to realize economies of scale. For these reasons, prices generally drop substantially, and vehicle makers then are able to offer once-exotic technologies in mid-market and even economy vehicles.
Airbags and antilock brakes followed this pattern.
“Quite likely, some of the safety systems now in the development and introduction stages of their product lifecycles will do the same. Others, however, may not find favour with vehicle buyers, and thus will fall by the wayside, observes Customer Research Project Manager Rick Brown.
Developers of these systems are likely to take large losses, while developers of successful systems will reap profits for themselves and the vehicle makers that install those systems.
“Although vehicle buyers say they want safety, vehicle makers are unsure about what systems to offer, whether systems should be standard or optional, and what prices to set for optional equipment,” states Brown.
Frost & Sullivan, a global growth consulting company, has been partnering with clients to support the development of innovative strategies for more than 40 years.