Access granted, competition denied

A broad coalition of associations representing consumers and automotive and mobility service providers welcomes the publication of the latest CARUSO Connected Vehicle Field Test assessing the implementation of the European Union’s Data Act across 29 major vehicle manufacturer groups. The findings confirm that the Data Act has established important principles for access to vehicle-generated data and has succeeded in encouraging some vehicle manufacturers to engage with the issue for the first time. However, one year after its application, the framework remains insufficient on its own to enable a competitive and innovative market for connected mobility services. 

The study, covering 15 automotive use cases across 28 vehicle manufacturer groups, unequivocally concludes that while access to vehicle data has improved, the conditions for competitive, scalable and genuinely multi-brand services are still lacking. Access remains fragmented, inconsistent and often commercially or technically impractical across the car parc. Lack of accessfor third parties and differences in data scope, quality and coverage, combined with restrictive commercial conditions, continue to undermine the business case for innovative services. Most importantly, the report finds that genuine multi-brand service development remains unattainable under current access arrangements, ultimately preventing consumers and businesses from fully benefiting from the opportunities of connected mobility.

The findings suggest that, for many manufacturers, implementation has become primarily a compliance exercise rather than a genuine effort to enable effective market access. Independent service providers continue to face limited datasets, restrictive terms, manual approval processes, manufacturer-specific consent mechanisms and inconsistent technical solutions. While such approaches may comply with the broadly defined obligations of the Data Act, they are fundamentally incompatible with the real-time, automated access required for modern digital services.

“CARUSO shows that compliance with the horizontal Data Act does not automatically create a competitive market in the automotive and mobility services sector. Many manufacturers now offer Data Act access, yet the development of scalable multi-brand services remains out of reach. Europe's challenge is not just establishing access rights, but ensuring those rights deliver real-world competition and innovation.”

The report further demonstrates the importance of strong enforcement. Vehicle manufacturers respond more rapidly where national authorities actively investigate complaints and apply the available enforcement mechanisms. Without consistent, harmonised and proactive enforcement across the European Union, the rights established under the Data Act risk remaining largely theoretical for a significant share of Europe’s vehicle fleet.

In light of these findings, the coalition calls on European Union’s institutions and Member States to:

• Consistently and strongly enforce the Data Act across all Member States;
• Issue clear guidance on fair, reasonable and cost-based compensation;
• Use forthcoming legislative reviews to reinforce, rather than weaken, the effectiveness of the Data Act;
• Introduce dedicated automotive legislation establishing common access conditions, interoperability requirements, an initial set of common technical and data delivery standards and safeguards against discriminatory behaviour; and
• Ensure effective access not only to vehicle-generated data, but also to the in-vehicle functions and resources needed to develop, scale, and deliver innovative digital mobility services, thereby enabling fair competition, business growth, and continued investment across the value chain.

The CARUSO findings leave little room for doubt. The Data Act has been an important first step and has succeeded in bringing vehicle data access onto the agenda. But the evidence now shows that horizontal legislation alone is not enough to create a workable market for competitive multi-brand services. Without stronger enforcement and dedicated automotive legislation governing access to vehicle-generated data, functions and resources, Europe will fall short of its ambition to foster innovation, consumer choice and fair competition in the connected mobility ecosystem.