LG, Audi Team Up On Smart Watch, Elio To Bypass Dealers

Audi and LG have teamed up for what they hope will be the next generation of vehicle control. The two companies are collaborating on smart watch technology. During CES 2015, Dr. Ulrich Hackenberg, who sits on the board at Audi, summoned the Audi Prologue to the stage using a mysterious watch. The prologue is Audi’s self-driving vehicle, which was unveiled at CES.

The watch, which reportedly wasn’t revisited during the presentation, has generated a lot of speculation. It was first thought that it was a wearable running on Android Wear, but it was later found to be operating on open sourced WebOS by LG. Details about the watch are slim and varied based on who spoke with whom at CES, however, Android Central tracked down the watch for a closer look. They discovered it gives the user the ability to control certain vehicle functions. The watch also included a messenger and dialer app, pointing to a link to a smart phone verses being a stand-alone cellular device. The watch is currently nameless and its not confirmed when and if it will go into production.

Another automotive company showed up at CES. Elio simply had their vehicle on display. The three-wheeled vehicle will go on sale in the U.S. in 2016 for a modest $6,800. The vehicle runs on a gasoline three-cylinder engine. It has a top speed of 100 miles per hour and reportedly achieves 84 miles per gallon on the highway. It weights 1,200 pounds with an 8 gallon fuel tank. It seats two (in tandem) and has a small trunk.

We reported previously that the Elio will be bypassing the traditional dealership model. Elio plans to sell their vehicles directly to consumers via their own factory stores just like Tesla Motors. They have secured 26 supplier partnerships, including airbags maker Takata and Cooper Tires. There are 35,000 plus pre-orders already in place for the vehicle that won’t be hitting the streets for a year.

The question is should dealers be concerned about this company? Are they going to succeed? Will they be successful in direct-to-consumer sales? Do you oppose their decision to bypass dealers?