Volvo’s new boss, Jim Rowan, is convinced the automaker’s old system isn’t good enough. In the future, the brand would also like to appeal to “Generation Z” and they have very different expectations of a car.
Current drivers can still be inspired with a Spotify app in the car, but this will be a prerequisite and crucial in the future. Who buys a smartphone if there isn’t one. As you can see from Huawei: Almost nobody.
Volvo relies on Android Automotive
Jim Rowan is now thinking a lot about this, because the “digital natives” will buy new cars in the future and they have different requirements. In the meantime, Volvo is completely based on Android Automotive in order to be able to offer this.
I agree with this statement 100 percent. I don’t care if there’s 50 HP more or less now and how the material on the door feels. Sure, that’s not unimportant, but the key thing for me now is how digital a car is.
It’s not worth it for a manufacturer like Volvo to develop it completely yourself, hence the close partnership with Google. And even that still has a lot of room for improvement, as I’ve found, but that’s exactly what you want to tackle.
The downside is that Volvo is now dependent on Google. The advantage, however, is that Volvo was completely left behind when it came to the infotainment system before electric cars and is now at the forefront. Hardly any other OS offers such an app selection.