I overheard a conversation back in 2010 that made me chuckle. Two colleagues of mine were discussing cars and one remarked …
“The automotive industry has invented the time machine and no one noticed”
“How’s that?” the second asked.
“Because every time I jump into my car I go back to the 1950’s”
They were discussing the fact there was no real way to connect his MP3 player to a new vehicle he had just purchased.
The automotive industry seemed to take forever to embrace the changes in connectivity that were happening at such a rapid fire pace in most other industries.
I would agree with them to a large extent. While MP3 and GPS options were available on some cars during that time they were very expensive.
Why did it seem like the automotive industry was slow in these areas?
Well there are a few answers.
Product Development Cycle
Modern cars are a combination of thousands of parts and pieces from multiple manufacturers. The cycle from vehicle concept to show room floor takes years to complete. In the 1980’s it took roughly 8 years to complete this cycle. In the 2000’s it’s estimated that this time frame decreased to roughly 5.5 years.
So let’s put that into perspective. If the car maker saw a technology demo they wanted to include in their vehicle today, it would still be almost 6 years before it actually debuted in the vehicle.
Manufacturing Complexity
Items made for the automotive industry must be modular since modern cars are built on moving assembly lines. The components that make up the vehicle have to be self contained units that can be installed by one or two individuals in just a few seconds as it moves down the line. This requires careful consideration before manufacturing of the vehicle even starts.
Long Term Reliability
Vehicles are long term purchases. Most people expect a car to last at least 10 years. Automotive manufacturers have to ensure that components like touch screens can stand up to daily use over that long period of time. Let’s not forget that your vehicle is subject to the full force of the environment too. All of these electronic components are expected to function normally in any of the extreme climates your vehicle encounters.
These are just a few of the challenges the auto industry faces when bringing new conveniences to their products.
With all that said the strides made in automotive infotainment systems since 2010 have been pretty incredible. We’ll discuss those in future articles.
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