Market Trends of Germany Automotive Smart Keys Industry
Electric Vehicle will Drive the Market
The electric vehicles market in Germany is well supported by the government in the form of funding for research, infrastructure, and subsidies for car buyers.
According to the Nationale Plattform Elektromobilität (NPE) plan, the public subsidies available to car buyers are around Euro 1.2 billion. In addition to that further Euro 300 million is being spent on upgrading e-mobility infrastructure. The tax for EV owners includes zero-rated vehicle tax for ten years and income tax breaks on charging cars at work. Whereas, the target is to convert 20% of the government's vehicle fleet into EVs by 2020. Also, the number of AC charging stations is increasing in the country which is set to reach 70,000 by 2020.
Major OEMs in the country have an ambitious future plan for electric mobility Such as Volkswagen is planning to introduce 20 new e-models by 2020, while the BMW plan is to produce a plug-in hybrid version of its every major model.
Whereas, Tesla which is the leader in BEV in the world has updated its mobile app to support Model 3, as this model have a phone-based unlocking system along with a key card system as a backup. The Model 3 mobile app supports various functions such as automatic locking and unlocking, driving.
Security Risks is Hindering the Market Growth.
Along with the convenience the smart keys provide this smart entry system are very easy targets for the thieves as with the help of radio transmitters, as they perform some relay car hacks to capture the signal from the car's fob to stole the car.
In 2019, German General Automobile Club tested more than 237 keyless car models, in which 230 can be unlocked and started by using relay technology. Some of the cars which can be stolen by this method according to the club are the Ford Fiesta and Focus, Volkswagen Golf, and Nissan Qashqai.
Whereas any digital key has the requirement of a carrier such as a smartphone, any thieve can easily install malware through root permission to revise the information in the carrier, and through that, it can even control the wireless transmission between the carrier and car just like with any relay.
To overcome the threat of theft many market players are introducing their new and updated keyless entry system to make the car theft-proof. For instance, In 2018, Bosch launched its Perfectly Keyless system, in this technology a virtual key is being stored in the smartphone when the car recognizes the owner's smartphone through sensors then it open the vehicle. For protection against theft, the system blocks signals from other smartphones and any other electronic devices.
Similarly, in 2019, Ford introduces new enhanced key fob on new Fiesta and Focus to prevent these models from relay attack The keyless entry fobs will be disabled when not in use to counter the relay attacks, Thanks to its motion sensor inside the key fob that triggers a sleep mode when it detects it is been stationary for longer than 40 seconds.
