Amazon Alexa sees rising demand in automobile industry

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Updated on Mar 11, 2020
Reading time 3 minutes
  • Amazon Alexa sees rising demand in automobile industry.
  • Amazon partnered with 10 different companies to promote Alexa in modern cars.
  • Alexa may not need a phone or Wi-Fi to function in order to promote drivers' safety.
  • Amazon may surge further in the stock market once Alexa is thoroughly adopted by car manufacturers.

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Alexa was previously a wonderful phone assistant but is to be promoted to be a car assistant as well in 2020 as explained by Ned Curic, the Vice President of Alexa Auto. For those who are not familiar with her, Alexa is Amazon’s “voice-enabled” technology and is a virtual assistant that users engage with on their phones – just like Siri for Apple.

Reportedly, demand for Alexa has skyrocketed in the new decade as automotive companies are ecstatic about upgrading in-vehicle voice recognition systems that can give them an edge over competitors. Partnerships with automotive companies started in 2016 when Amazon-provided Alexa as a means to remotely start vehicles from inside homes. Now, this partnership has expanded to give Alexa in-vehicle access, enabling the Amazon-created technology to perform certain vehicle functions.

Currently, Amazon has partnered with 10 different automakers and is working on updating contracts with current ones in the new year.  Echo Auto was also an Alexa-powered in-vehicle device released in 2019 that allowed the virtual assistant to power functions such as navigation and music selection. The device is sold for a mere $50- bringing a change to the automobile industry forever.

Multiple Car Manufacturers Have Partnered With Amazon

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General Motors is a major partner of Amazon in 2020 and has announced that Alexa will be installed in the new models of Buick, Cadillac, GMC vehicles, and Chevrolet. General Motors’ Vice President of Global Connected Services, Santiago Chamorro stated that customers are extremely excited about this addition and surveys clearly suggested Alexa added value to the vehicle.

That’s not all though because the renowned Audi, BMW, and Volkswagen will also be partnering with the tech giant. Ford was the first one to bring this idea to life though by previously adding Alexa into a mobile app. Audi has already taken it further to adding Alexa into a vehicle called the Audi e-Tron.

Alexa May Not Need A Phone Or Wi-Fi To Function

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So, Alexa will be able to make driving way more efficient by connecting people in the vehicle with their home devices, provide navigation and vehicle control features such as functioning the windows, turning the car on and off, locking doors, etc, and providing regular Alexa functions.  

The best part is that in order to use Alexa in-vehicle, a phone is not required! Hence, people will definitely not be glued to their screens while driving- offering a much safer experience for drivers.

The device may also not need Wi-Fi to function and GM is thinking of charging a $14.99 a month subscription fee for data usage in order to power Alexa. However, not all consumers may approve of this and automobile companies are still working on figuring this out.

As per the analysts, once the plans for Alexa are implement widely in the modern automobiles, Amazon’s stock is likely to surge higher and challenge its record high around $2,000.

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