The Independent Automotive Aftermarket Federation (IAAF) has cautiously welcomed the European Commission’s third legislative Mobility Package which has just been published, covering a wide range of topics, including connected and automated driving.

The IAAF is encouraged by the Commission’s acknowledgement of the vehicle manufacturers’ privileged position on ‘access to car data and vehicle resources’ and the issues it raises for fair and equal competition, in particular in the form of centralised ‘extended vehicle data platform servers’.

However, it has serious concerns as the package fails to set out a clear legislative pathway to guarantee a level playing field for all digital products and services ‘around the car’, to ensure that consumers can decide who they share their car data with and for what specific services.

The Commission’s proposals reiterate previous statements found in its GEAR 2030 Report, and “falls significantly short” of what is required to ensure competitive digital services and products for drivers.

Wendy Williamson, IAAF chief executive said, “Unless legislation is implemented on an interoperable, standardised, secure and safe digital in-vehicle telematics platform, then there is a serious threat to competition, innovation and consumer choice for mobility services and digital products. The time to act is now, as the volume of connected vehicles is rapidly increasing.”

She added, “We urge the Commission to act on its recommendation to “monitor the situation on access to in-vehicle data and resources” and deliver – also in line with the Parliament‘s Report on C-ITS - a concrete work programme leading to a legal framework enabling equal competition in digital services.”