In July 2007, the Brazilian government signalled their intention to tackle persistently high levels of vehicle crime by mandating fitment of an anti-theft system to all new vehicles. In addition to the function of an electronic immobiliser, this system must include the capability to provide Stolen Vehicle Recovery (SVR) and remote immobilisation telematics services. The program to introduce the anti-theft systems is called SIMRAV and is due to be phased-in from May 2011.

However, the government under-estimated both the amount of time required to define and validate the systems, and the degree of objections from both public and industry sources. Public objections were focussed on concerns over invasion of privacy and the fact that, for many people, they would be forced into paying more for features on a new car that they would never use. A federal court judge upheld the privacy complaints and the government was forced to adopt a more conciliatory approach.

Vehicle manufacturers in Brazil are faced with a choice; do they implement the minimum required telematics services (SVR and remote immobilisation), or do they try and offer added-value services to the end user. Current approaches vary, with some OEMs seeing SIMRAV as a ‘necessary evil’, while others see potential in using telematics as a brand differentiator. More than 5.5 million vehicles (including 2.6 million new cars) were sold in 2010, an all time record, and Brazil overtook Germany to become the 4th largest global market for new cars.With bullish growth forecasts, Brazil is a market where there is profit to be made in what remain uncertain times.

Anti-theft system (SIMRAV) implementation schedule

SBD have have produced a new report, Deployment of mandatory telematics in Brazil - Lessons learnt and market trends 2011, that answers the following key questions:

• Is the Brazilian government still serious about tackling vehicle crime with this legislation and is the current introduction schedule likely to be achieved?
• Will Brazilian consumers actually ‘activate’ the telematics device in their vehicle and sign up to SVR, or will the device simply remain dormant for the life of the vehicle?
• What are the attitudes of different OEMs to telematics fitment – which are doing the minimum required to meet the legislation and which are using the opportunity to offer additional services to their customers?
• What are the obstacles faced by OEMs that want to offer additional services (beyond the mandatory SVR and remote immobilisation) from their telematics systems?
• Which hardware providers have won significant amounts of new business with OEMs to supply the telematics systems?
• Which service providers have been approved by the Brazilian government and are able to offer SVR services to new vehicle owners?
• What technical challenges are posed by the requirement that any SIMRAV-equipped vehicle must be capable of communicating with any service provider, using any mobile network operator?
• What lessons have the Brazilian government learnt during the development of SIMRAV?

To learn more about Deployment of mandatory telematics in Brazil - Lessons learnt and market trends 2011 please contact Kavitha Kuppuswamy at kkuppuswamy@sbd.co.uk