With more than 1.3 million people dying in road accidents each year, as per the World Health Organization (WHO), the focus on making roads safer is strengthening. Since most of the accidents are attributed to human error, many governments are mandating the adoption of some level of vehicle autonomy so that the burden on the driver can be reduced. Such awareness and the increasing inclination of people for improved vehicles are leading to the integration of advanced driver assistant systems (ADAS), which automate many functions of automobiles and display real-time information.

As per P&S Intelligence, this will be a key reason behind the growth of the automotive data logger market during 2020–2030, since valuing around $3 billion in 2020. This device is similar to the all-important flight data recorder (FDR) in airplanes, which records what happens to the aircraft systems with every push of the button or foot-operated pedal, shift of the stick, push or pull of the lever, and turn of the control knob.

In the automotive sector, data loggers are used to track and monitor the functioning of not only the mechanical systems, such as engines, wheels, brakes, and steering, but also of the electronic systems, such as ADAS. This information is used by automakers to make future systems better or send alerts to vehicle owners regarding maintenance, servicing, or replacement. Further, automakers also use these instruments before the vehicles come out of the factory, during the testing phase. With the stringent emission control and passenger safety mandates, rigorous vehicle testing has become indispensable.

Categories under the channel segment of the automotive data logger market are controller area network (CAN) & controller area network flexible data (CAN FD), local interconnect network (LIN), FlexRay, and ethernet. Among these, the CAN & CAN FD category accounted for the largest market share in 2020, due to the escalating use of this data-communication protocol in vehicles for allowing communications and transmitting data at 1 Mbps speed with an extensive level of data integrity. Due to these benefits, the category will continue to hold the dominant position throughout the forecast period.

Apart from automakers, other pre-vehicle-sale users of automotive data loggers are regulatory authorities and service stations, while important post-vehicle-sale users of such devices include individual vehicle owners and fleet operators. With the world transitioning fast to autonomous driving, the existing regulations need amendment, and new ones need to be created. This creates a need for government agencies to understand the functioning of modern automobiles, for which they use data loggers.

As a result, North America is the largest automotive data logger market, as several U.S. states and Canadian provinces have already tweaked their transportation regulations to accommodate autonomous vehicles. Moreover, in 2015, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration of the U.S. made the installation of such devices necessary in trucks, so that driving hours could be recorded electronically. Driver fatigue is the key reason behind accidents involving trucks in the country, which is why electronic logging devices are now being used to ascertain how long trucks are being driven.

In the coming years, the incorporation of these devices will pick up the fastest in Asia-Pacific (APAC), which accounts for the highest automotive production and sales in the world. In addition, with the increasing disposable income of people here and them becoming rapidly tech-savvy, the demand for cutting-edge automotive features is increasing. Moreover, with the presence of a large number of electronics companies in the region, such devices are available at cost-effective rates.

Hence, with the increasing focus on enhancing road safety, the procurement of data loggers by automakers, fleet operators, and government agencies will boom.