U.S. In-car Voice Assistant Users Rise 13.7% to Nearly 130 Million, Have Significantly Higher Consumer Reach Than Smart Speakers – New Report

Total in-car voice assistant users in the U.S. is almost 130 million with 83.8 million active monthly
This total reflects a 13.7% rise in users over the past 15 months and is more than 45% higher than the number of smart speaker device owners
About 51% of U.S. adults have tried using a voice assistant while driving and about one-third have converted to monthly users
U.S. adults that have used a voice assistant in the car rose 13.7% between September 2018 and January 2020 to 129.7 million drivers according to a new report by Voicebot.ai in collaboration with research sponsor Cerence. That amounts to about one million new in-car voice assistant users per month since our previous survey. Monthly and daily active users also rose during the period to 83.8 million and 29.7 million U.S. adults respectively.

It is worth noting that these figures for in-car voice assistant use are far higher than current smart speaker use. In fact, there are almost as many monthly active users of voice assistants while driving in the U.S. as there are total smart speaker owners. The population reach of voice assistants in the car is over 45% higher than through smart speakers. Sanjay Dhawan, CEO of Cerence, commented on the findings:

“In the case of voice assistant adoption, it could be said that a rising tide floats all boats – usage, comfort, and affinity for voice assistants in the car drives the same in the home, and vice-versa. But increased usage in the car over the home points to growing interest among drivers in leveraging voice-powered technologies for a safer on-road experience. Voice in the home is useful but unessential, but in the car, with an increasing amount of distractions, buttons, and obstacles to navigate, it’s critical.”

These findings are from a nearly 40-page report with 19 charts and tables. The In-Car Voice Assistant Consumer Adoption Report 2020 is Voicebot’s second edition and includes results from a national consumer survey of 1,090 U.S. adults along with an analysis of six automaker initiatives, eight in-car voice solutions from seven companies, and four automotive tailored apps and services.

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MORE THAN HALF HAVE TRIED AND ONE-THIRD ARE REGULAR USERS
The report also found that more than half of U.S. adults have tried a voice assistant while driving and one-third said they were monthly users of the technology. Adoption figures suggest that voice assistant use in cars falls between smart speaker and smartphone use of the services. Smartphones are still the most frequently used surface for voice assistant access.

Voice in the home is useful but unessential, but in the car, with an increasing amount of distractions, buttons, and obstacles to navigate, it’s critical

Monthly active users of voice assistants in the car was measured at 64.6% and daily active users were 22.9%. Smart speaker owners were more likely to also be monthly and daily active users of voice assistants in the car at 72.7% and 24.9% respectively. Woman were slightly more likely to be in-car voice assistant users than men.

You can see a breakdown of all of the data in the report released today which is available as a free download here.