SiriusXM’s Nissan Move is a Big Deal
With the dashboard becoming more connected than ever, it is great to see SiriusXM landing a contract with a car manufacturer that sells more than 1 million cars per year. As yet the size and scope of the contract have not been made public.
“Being the first car company to launch these telematics services allows us to further enhance the whole customer driving experience by providing the finest audio entertainment and data services that meet the growing expectations of the connected driver. After working with SiriusXM for more than a decade, we are excited about bringing world-class telematics services to our customers,” said Trisha Jung, Director, Nissan Connected Services.
SiriusXM’s telematic offerings include navigation, live traffic feeds, gas prices, weather, and more. While the premium services have been available for quite some time, and on selected models of various vehicles, the Nissan deal represents the first car company that has jumped into the concept with both feet. Likely other manufacturers will also need to find solutions for delivering these types of services to consumers as well, and that could bode well for SiriusXM.
“Offering telematics services is a logical next step for SiriusXM, building on our advanced in-vehicle technological capabilities, subscriber management expertise, and proven experience providing national service to drivers,” said Mel Karmazin, Chief Executive Officer, SiriusXM. “SiriusXM is the leader in subscription services to the car and our remarkable and sustained growth has been driven by our ability to deliver unparalleled audio entertainment and services to vehicles. Our critically acclaimed satellite radio service, now coupled with dynamic and full service telematics, offers the support that drivers want and need on the road and strengthens our relationship with Nissan.”
SiriusXM offers a suite of advanced products such as NavTraffic, NavWeather, SiriusXM Traffic, and SiriusXM Travel Link. These services can all generate premium revenues for the company in the years to come. While there is certainly a lot of competition in this realm, SiriusXM, by cutting a deal with Nissan is ripe to be in the fray. Look for more deals such as this to be announced over the next year.
Hi Spencer,
Any idea on what kind of sales this could add to SIRI? I’ve seen piecemeal types of these services from SIRI, but not to this level…
Thanks!
I read that some of these features are cellular based. Is that correct?
If so, how is that possible?
Would it have anything to do with the deal they made with AT&T?
There are indeed features of this that are cellular based. It is possible in the same way that you can stream services through your car via cell.
Nissan will need to have a cellular partner. Toyota, Honda, Kia , and Hyundai are partnered with Verizon already. Nissan has announced no such deal
At the moment the relationship between Sirius XM and AT&T is that they filed jointly on a solution to the issues surrounding the wcs spectrum that was on its way to another lawsuit. SDARS and WCS have been at odds for a decade now.
In theory Sirius XM could lease part of some cell spectrum from the likes of AT&T or Verizon and put that in the dash limited to telematics, but as yet no deal like that has been announced.
More likely than not, the connected car will require the consumer to pay another cellular fee on top of that which they already pay. It will rely on the consumer footing the bill via their own carrier.
You read so many different articles it is hard to keep them straight. I thought I read saying it would provide the customer all this with one bill. I also read that it was exclusive to Nissan. I don’t know if what I was reading was a press release or a blogger talking about it.