The crucial question of the automotive industry

The crucial question of the automotive industry

A smooth screen, cool updates, an easy-to-use navigation system, a voice assistant that understands you. Things like this will be a deciding factor when buying cars in the future, more important than horsepower. This presents major challenges for the automotive industry, but also opportunities. McKinsey already sees a potential of $400 billion worldwide in the area of ​​data usage and vehicle connectivity by 2030. Mobility companies across the entire ecosystem (from car manufacturers, suppliers and service providers to insurers and tech companies) can then realize an average of up to $310 in additional sales and $180 in potential savings per vehicle per year. On top of that, you can increase customer loyalty with software services and updates.

Infotainment needs to catch up

Of course, this requires a radical change and new know-how must be developed. Because at the moment, the infotainment systems, you have to be honest, are often anything but state of the art, even from premium manufacturers. Cumbersome operation, jerky graphics, annoying voice assistants are omnipresent - people are sometimes used to better things from smartphones. It's not for nothing that many car manufacturers are now cooperating with tech giants. GM and Ford are bringing Google and Amazon (Alexa) on board, while Stellantis is bringing the Chinese Apple contract manufacturer Foxconn on board. Instead, German car manufacturers are relying on developing their own operating systems. 

Collaborations probably lead to success more quickly. Will there possibly be a phase in which small cars from Ford or Peugeot are even superior to the luxury sedans from BMW when it comes to infotainment? However, the best piece of the cake must be shared with the tech companies. This can take revenge. Because the future does not belong to pure car manufacturers, i.e. hardware producers. Other industries show this: Seven of the ten most valuable companies in the world base their success on data-based business models! It's not for nothing that German manufacturers like VW are currently investing billions in their own software platform. This is fantastic in the long term, but in the short term it obviously costs a lot of time and money.

Meanwhile, the young wild ones are outrunning the established manufacturers, especially when it comes to software. And not just Tesla, also Polestar. The Polestar 2 was the first car in the world to launch in 2019 with an infotainment system based on Android Automotive OS - a revolutionary, integrated system that brought the benefits and flexibility of Google's Android OS to a car for the first time. 

Polestar relies on Android's open structure

Android's open structure allows app developers to develop apps for smartphones, tablets and wearables alike - and now also for cars. Polestar's proprietary Android Emulator, introduced in beta alongside the Polestar 2 at Google I/O 2019, provides app developers with design templates and app integrations to help them develop apps specifically for the Polestar 2.

In line with the current status available in Polestar 2, the system has now been updated with Android Automotive OS 10 templates and integrations. “The Android system holds enormous potential for cars,” says Thomas Ingenlath, CEO of Polestar. "We're seeing lots of fun and intelligent proposals from internal and external developers, and thanks to the short path to market, we're seeing apps move from concept to production relatively quickly. That's one of the key benefits of having Android in the vehicle - we're able to harness the creativity and pace of the entire Android developer community." 

Polestar is an independent Swedish premium electric car brand founded in 2017 by Volvo Cars and China's Geely Holding. Since launch, Android Emulator has contributed to the development and release of apps for Polestar 2, including EasyPark, ABRP, ChargePoint, Video Player and TV2 Sumo. The emulator was also used in two hackathons where it replaced physical vehicles. This dramatically reduced potential costs and freed developers from potential limitations associated with testing their apps in the car.

Polestar recently developed its own video streaming app for the Polestar 2. The beta app, which is now available in all European Polestar markets in the Google Play Store, brings web-based content from various providers directly to the 11-inch center display in the vehicle - for entertainment while parking or charging. It will be exciting to see whether and how the established manufacturers can keep up.