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Car maintenance market
With many car troubles easily avoided through regular service and maintenance, increased numbers of car users are turning to easy-to-manage car cleaning and repair applications to arrange the work needed on their cars to keep them in good condition and road-safe. From notifications to remind drivers of when to change the oil, to fuel consumption tracking, there are countless tasks which car maintenance businesses can simplify for the user.
Of all the types of connected car applications we’ve covered so far, the car maintenance app market is probably the longest-running and most saturated of them all. According to a report by the Global Industry Analysts, the automotive aftermarket industry is expected to reach $722.8 billion by 2020 and exceed $1 trillion by 2022. Reasons for this include car owners keeping their vehicles for considerably longer than in the past and an increased awareness of the importance preventative measures such as regular maintenance and scheduled servicing have in helping to increase the overall lifetime value of their cars. This consumer demand not only for services but also for parts is therefore sparking growth and revenue opportunities for app developers, startups and businesses operating in the automotive aftermarket.
With the average car on the road in the US 11.5 years old consumers are equally as interested in maintaining their current vehicles as they are in buying the latest models. In fact, the average length of vehicle ownership for new and used vehicles has increased 60% in the last ten years which can be credited to higher quality vehicles and improved maintenance services.
Sample API messages
Door locks
Found in the Digital Key category, Door Locks is useful for numerous types of applications which require access to the vehicle. Currently it is possible to get the status of the doors via the API.
Fluid levels
Both the Brake Fluid Level and the Washer Fluid Level can be found in the Diagnostics category of the Developer Center. Both key elements to a maintenance or repair project, these data points can reveal if there is enough fluid for either the windscreen wipers or the brakes so that a mechanic or driver would know to top them up, or identify if lack of fluid is the cause of other, perhaps more serious, issues.
Tire pressure
The tire pressure is also found in the Diagnostics category of the Developer Center and enables applications to retrieve the tire pressures of all four corners of the vehicle. In most cases this is used to build an alert if tire pressure levels fall below threshold values.
