Popular German luxury car manufacturer BMW has announced its plans to introduce Amazon's voice-controlled personal assistant, Alexa in all BMW and Mini models by mid-2018. Customers can access a host of services, including entertainment and shopping facilities using just the cloud-based voice command system. The system is also capable of reading out the vehicle status, play music and checking the movie list in the nearest theaters.
Alexa will help BMW in expanding the intelligent connectivity capabilities of its vehicles. Until now, the BMW Connected Drive system offered a number of services and infotainment features which could be controlled by voice commands in BMW models. The selective markets like USA, Germany and the UK, Amazon's Alexa is available with the Connected Drive mobile app. It allowed customers to control the car via remote services from home or check the fuel level or charge. More details about the technology will be known in the days to come.
Speaking about the new technology Dieter May, Senior Vice President Digital Services and Business Models at the BMW Group said, "By making this step of integrating Alexa into our models from mid-2018, BMW and Mini will form a more intrinsic part of our customers' digital lifestyles. Voice control first featured in BMW Group cars many years ago, and we are now enhancing its functionality by adding a digital ecosystem, which will open up all sorts of new possibilities that customers can access quickly, easily and safely from their car."
