screen, but many customers who are buying in-vehicle navigation systems just want to get inside their cars and have the navigation there and then drive. They don’t want to bother with having to con- nect the phone.”
There is also the matter that each automaker has its own approach and branding to traditional navigation — Ford’s MyTouch, for example — which they will want to preserve even though there is more cost involved with these kinds of systems. Automakers, even as they try to keep pace with technology and balance the needs of younger consumers who want to be connected all the time, are also facing greater scrutiny with potential reg- ulations looming about what is or is not a distraction for drivers.
During the next six,
nine, 12 to 24 months, there is going to be a steady drumbeat of products that are going to be introduced that support MirrorLink.”
— ALFRED TOM, CONNECTED CAR CONSORTIUM
on a new Mercedes to take a product like the AppRadio for $399 and add it to the vehicle right now.” Ultimately, smartphone users want
to use these devices in the car, but a universal standard like MirrorLink could still be a few years away. Aftermarket electronics companies seem poised to capture the business.
“It’s a great opportunity for the af-
termarket, for all of us. It opens the door when we talk about the car stereo industry to a consumer who has a smart- phone device but maybe has never even considered buying a car stereo,” noted Cardenas. “The desire to bring that smartphone device into the car opens a world of new consumers to us.” ■
“It’s interesting because the car is such a hot button right now, particularly for the OEMs,” Cardenas said. “Where the aftermarket has a unique opportu- nity is whether it’s Buick, Mercedes, Ford or Audi, these big car companies have pretty deep marketing and promotional budgets and they’re talking about how great it is to be able to bring your smart- phone and connect it to your new car.” The aftermarket, whether it’s a Pioneer AppRadio platform solution or one of the other solutions from one of our competi- tors, can give the consumer who doesn’t have either the budgetary capability or the desire to go out and spend $50,000
www.me-mag.com 55
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