Nissan’s first connected car push will provide service notifications to drivers

Nissan’s doing its first big push into internet-connected cars, and the first steps are tentative, as you might expect from something as sensitive as provided a direct line to the internet to a vehicle: The Japanese automaker will be offering an option on new vehicle that provides notifications to drivers when they need to take the car in for maintenance or service.

The option will be available in select models, and with roll-out starting in Japan and India beginning in 2017, with planned deployment in additional markets continuing through and including 2020. Nissan also plans to sell the additional gadget needed to provide access to the new connected service, which can also work on older models via retrofit. It’s hoping to eventually see around 30 percent of its existing cars offering the capability to drivers.

Connected services are not just table stakes or value-add for Nissan customers; the automaker is hoping to drive considerable revenue from the new segment, with Nissan Corporate VP Kent O’Hara telling reporters that the idea is to have connectivity and other tech-related services drive up to 25 percent of Nissan’s post-sales revenue by around 2022, according to Reuters.