Nissan and its major partners, Renault and Mitsubishi, have turned to Google for help in developing a brand-new infotainment system. The yet-unnamed software will begin booting up in dashboards all around the world in 2021 and help the Alliance reach its goal of building more connected vehicles by 2022.
Renault, Nissan, and Mitsubishi will join Volvo in offering an Android-based infotainment system. Summoning Google’s help will ensure the Alliance’s cars offer an intuitive, high-tech system that looks as good as it performs. The navigation function will run Google Maps, and the passengers will have access to thousands of applications through the Google Play Store. Nissan stresses the software will be compatible with other operating systems such as iOS; you’ll be able to run Apple CarPlay on an Android-based infotainment system.
The Alliance’s next infotainment system will be compatible with a new, Tesla-style over-the-air updating system from the get-go. Customers will be able to receive the latest versions of the infotainment system by simply tapping the screen a few times, just like they do on a smartphone. They might also have the ability to unlock new features, like more range in an electric car or a driver-assist function. Accessing the car’s data through the cloud will allow service centers to diagnose problems remotely.
“With the integration of the Android platform into our infotainment systems, we are adding a new level of intelligence to our connected vehicles. In the future, the Google Assistant, which employs Google’s leading A.I. technology, can become the main way customers interact with their vehicles, hands-free. With Google Maps and the Google Assistant embedded in Alliance infotainment systems, our customers will have some of the most advanced A.I.-based applications at their fingertips,” explained Kal Mos, Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi’s global vice president of connected vehicles, in a statement.
It’s too early to tell which model(s) will inaugurate the Alliance’s next infotainment system. Renault, Nissan, and Mitsubishi form an immense empire with branches all over the world. Several of America’s best-selling cars wear a Nissan emblem. Mitsubishi’s presence has shrunk here but it remains popular in Japan. And while Renault is a distant memory in the United States, it remains a major player in Europe, where cars such as the spunky Twingo top the charts, and in Russia.
