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Automaker's Battle For Dashboards | DrivingSales News

The Automaker Dashboard Battle Against Google and Apple

June 3, 2015 0 Comments

Toyota and Ford aren’t giving up their dashboards. The two automakers don’t want to set up a platform for Google’s Android Auto or Apple’s CarPlay. The two automakers would like to control their infotainment systems. This is in stark contrast to GM and Hyundi, who are embracing CarPlay and Android Auto.

General Motors and Hyundai are officially going to carry infotainment systems in some of their upcoming 2016 vehicle models. Pundits have wondered if for those automakers, as well as other partners of Android Auto and Carplay, gave up their dashboards too easily. Critics also wonder if vehicles of the future will be so similar and advanced that it won’t matter as much what’s outside as what smartphone based operating system is inside. Mark Boyadjis, analyst for IHS Automotive told Bloomberg in an interview that automakers may have let tech companies take their dashboards without much of a fight. Boyadjis told Bloomberg, “They’ve put a lot of blood, sweat and tears and a lot of R&D resources into developing their own systems, so how can you then say ‘OK, Google and Apple, come in and take over’? The car companies need to be very shrewd with how they integrate things like CarPlay and Android Auto.”

As stated before, Toyota and Ford don’t want to give up their dashboards to Apple and Google. However, the two automakers aren’t saying that they don’t want to allow users to use a smartphone-based system, they do. The automakers simply want to create their own system and cut Android Auto and Carplay out of the equation. Both Toyota and Ford are exploring usage of SmartDeviceLink. It’s an infotainment system that could allow consumers to hook up their smartphones for integration with their device. According to a Ford press release, ” SDL allows automakers to maintain control of user interface design for product differentiation while also helping provide an improved consumer experience through new entertainment, information and navigation app development.”

Thus, according to Ford, the purpose of the new SmartDeviceLink system is, in part, to allow automakers to maintain control of their dashboards. According to Shigeki Terashi, Senior Managing Officer at Toyota, “The in-car app market is quickly evolving. Developing robust, flexible, safe and user-friendly connected services is a priority for us, and one that we believe is shared by Ford.” No timeline for research or development of SmartDeviceLink systems has been given by Toyota or Ford.

What do you make of this move on the part of Toyota and Ford? Should automakers have to assert control of their vehicle infotainment systems? Do you think that if all automakers partnered with Google and Apple it would benefit the automotive industry or give away too much control to Silicon Valley?

About the Author:

The DrivingSales News team is dedicated to breaking the relevant and the tough stories affecting car dealers. Have questions for DrivingSales News? Reach the team at news@drivingsales.com.

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