Bucking the tide of telematics development sweeping much of the automotive industry, the Chrysler unit of DaimlerChrysler AG has no plans to rush into selling in-car computer services. Chrysler officials said Jan. 24 they will wait until technology advances further and a set of industry standards for such services, known as telematics, are established before attempting to install them on a wide range of Chrysler vehicles, according to Reuters. Telematics services currently include a range of computer and wireless communications built into vehicles - everything from unlocking doors through a phone call to dialing automatically for help when airbags deploy. The field is seen as a rich vein of future revenue by many automakers, especially since most services will likely carry a monthly subscription charge. UBS Warburg LLC analyst Saul Rubin has estimated that the market for telematics hardware and services will grow from $4.2 billion this year to $47.2 billion by 2010. General Motors Corporation has installed its OnStar service on about one million vehicles, and has made deals to offer the service in vehicles built by Toyota Motor Corporation and Honda Motor Company. In what many analysts see as a response to GM's success with OnStar, Ford Motor Company has set up a joint venture called Wingcast with Qualcomm Inc., to sell telematics in Ford vehicles. Basic telematics have become fairly common in upscale vehicles; DaimlerChrysler's Mercedes-Benz unit is offering a telematics package as standard equipment on all 2001 models. But Karenann Terrell, Chrysler's director of Business Connect for its E-Connect Platform, said telematics services are not yet in demand among Chrysler's middle-class buyers, and that the company couldn't make money with an OnStar-type approach. Chrysler instead would rely on computer makers for such services, and showed off a prototype of a telematics network built into a Chrysler PT Cruiser. Through screens built into the dash and the rear seats, each passenger would be able to download audio files, send and receive e-mail and even play a trivia game based on the car's location. The system, based on Sun Microsystems Inc. components, is a glimpse of what could be offered in two to five years, according to Terrell. She declined to say when Chrysler would step into the telematics business, but the company has said it would have some limited service on a 2002 model.