OYSTER BAY, NY - Telematics remains a North American dominated technology, a new research report says.

"Telematics efforts outside North America have faltered for several reasons," says Frank Viquez, director of automotive research at ABI Research. "In Europe, for example, a main factor is that consumers have much less of a propensity to pay for the advanced safety capabilities common to North American telematics services, such as automatic crash notification. Additionally, the main features that most European motorists demand -- navigation and traffic -- are commonly available as standalone services."

Telematics weds computers and telecommunications systems on a car. Features include safety and security, hands-free communications and wireless access to a wide range of information and entertainment.

General Motors' plan to make OnStar standard on all its passenger cars by 2007 will nearly triple its yearly output of telematics-enabled vehicles.

Although North America accounts for a just third of the world's vehicle sales, it is home to over three quarters -- more than 3 million -- of the world's total telematics subscribers. OnStar Europe, available on Opel models in Germany, has less than 5% of its North American counterpart's subscriber base, yet it is one of the leading TSPs (telematics service providers) in Europe.

Similar customer retention and acquisition problems exist in Japan, where Nissan's CARWINGS has been forced to follow Honda InterNavi in extending its telematics service trial-period to three years as part of the vehicle purchase.

Elsewhere in Asia, telematics efforts are just getting underway. ABI Research finds that South Korea, with its significant government involvement, as well as China, may be significant growth areas for telematics.

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