NDTV : Apr 03, 2019, 10:12 AM
The soon to be launched Hyundai Venue will have an inbuilt eSim card from Vodafone-Idea. The tie up between the telecom giant and India's number two carmaker will see customers enjoying the services without any monthly tariff plan. The Connected Car battle is beginning in India, and both China's MG and Korea's Hyundai Motor seem to be taking opening positions on this new battlefront.Hyundai recently made an announcement about its new subcompact SUV Venue that's launching in mere weeks as being India's first connected car. It will offer a slew of services which will see everything from emergency response, navigation, to remotely operating the car's features happening with ease. While some of the integrated features make use of the owner's connected smartphone, majority will work through the car's inbuilt eSim card. Hyundai has also announced a partnership with Vodafone-Idea for the same. While some of the expense involved will be bundled as a one time-cost within the car's price, sources at Hyundai have revealed that the users will have no monthly data or tariff plan for the use of the eSim's connectivity services. It remains unclear if the service will subsequently be chargeable as it is introduced to other Hyundai models over the next 2-3 year period. The big advantage here for potential buyers then is that they need not use their smartphone, and therefore own existing data plan for many of the services or features, that many car's currently offer only through smartphone integration.