MOUNTAIN VIEW, CA - Frost & Sullivan's new study, Strategic Analysis of the Telematics and Location-based Applications and Services Market in North America, highlights the cost benefits associated with telematics.

"Automakers should have telematics as a standard feature in all  their models because it utilizes real-time diagnostics and can save millions of dollars in warranty and recall costs," said Frost & Sullivan Senior Research Analyst Sathyanarayana K. "Automakers have to partner with wireless carriers and educate their global positioning system (GPS)-equipped phone subscribers to use their phones in cars."

However, according to the study, automakers and system suppliers could face issues of obsolescence and mismatch between automobile and consumer electronics products. They could alleviate these problems largely by developing a standards-based, flexible, and open architecture platform to keep the product relevant for a longer period.

Telematics service providers (TSPs) also need to expand their subscriber bases to tide over the current lean phase, according to the study.