Earlier this year, Toyota spelled out what many car companies were thinking: It would rather have its own software inside its cars than software from Apple and Google. On Thursday, it took another step to box out the mobile giants.
The Japanese carmaker signed a deal with two auto tech companies, Telenav and UIEvolution, to equip some 2016 models with a dashboard navigation system linked to mobile phones. It works with both iOS and Android. But, according to the software partners, the system doesn’t wrest control from Toyota, a rising concern in the auto industry as Apple and Google promote their connected dashboards. […]
[ Part of the desire for software control comes from] the very real concern from carmakers that surrendering control of in-car experiences to mobile companies would render them useless. […]
Ford CEO Mark Fields articulated this concern in an interview with Re/code in April: “At the end of the day we don’t want to end up as the handset business.”
I sincerely hope auto makers’ ability to create high-quality software matches their desire for control. Soon.