How Will You Choose Your Next Car – Times Are Changing?
Friday, 25. May 2018
Data, data, data – nothing but data and BREXIT is all we ever hear about on the news and frankly, it’s getting on my manboobs! Having said that I’m about to add to the pain because apparently there are fisticuffs taking place between manufacturers in order to win over car buyers.
Years ago it was a sunroof, if the car you had your eye on didn’t have a sunroof you would drop it in favour of maybe your second choice of car that did. Then it was air conditioning and CD players. Apparently, it is now the tech that is fitted into your car as the data that it can collect has been estimated to be worth over $750 million (£555 million) by 2020.
So the battle is on to provide the technology that gives the car manufacturers greatest returns because according to Auto-Express this is just the start. Once Autonomous (driverless) Tech kicks in it will really take off. The thing is that the control of much of the data when you connect to the Internet via your car is collected via Android Auto or Apple CarPlay, whichever you connect through.
This could mean a loss of potential profits so some established companies like Jaguar Land Rover and VW Group are investing in startups that are coming up with apps that can take over from the two providers mentioned above. The idea is to come up with apps that drivers can’t live without but are only available in their cars.
Thus moving us away from whether a car has a feature such as Park Assist (self-parking) to an unbelievable app that may tell you something but collects data at the same time. Whilst some manufacturers are spending money on developing their own apps Volvo has taken a different approach.
Thir boss, Hakan Samuelsson, admitted that their new infotainment systems were being developed around Android and Google Assistant. You’ll be able to interact with it and buy third party apps for your car much as you do at the moment for your smartphone. When asked why he isn’t following the same route as many of his competitors he admitted that Volvo,’Isn’t clever enough’ to compete. ‘You’ll have access to thousands of apps this way and they’ll all be better than the ones we would have written.’
So whilst we’re not there yet with so much diversity amongst the car manufacturers, when it comes to their attitude towards their Infotainment Systems and Internet Apps, the time will soon come when we select our cars, not based on things like air con or sun roofs but what apps we can access. By Graham Hill
