Gone are the days when the only entertainment in the car was the radio. Today’s vehicles are equipped with giant screens, voice assistants and many other infotainment features. You only need to see the new Mercedes E-Class (to name just one) to understand this, with its two large screens, allowing you to watch movies, access TikTok or even play Angry Birds.

In China, the German automaker’s biggest market, a study by firm Oliver Wyman last year found that 90 percent of Chinese drivers would be willing to switch brands to benefit from greater connectivity. This is in stark contrast to less than half of European consumers. Connectivity has become a defining factor for manufacturers in the Chinese market.

The Chinese market and its requirements

Walter Mertel, CFO of BMW, emphasizes: “If you don’t have that proposition in China, no client will consider you. » Therefore, German brands are looking for solutions to remain the owners of their own software architecture and maintain control over data, rather than being completely dependent on technology giants such as Google.

Mercedes, for example, introduced the latest generation of the MBUX infotainment system, developed in-house, without contacting suppliers. For their part, Chinese brands such as BYD, the leading manufacturer in the Chinese market, and Leapmotor are also developing their own digital platforms while integrating elements such as the Android system and Google Maps to conquer the European market.

Manufacturers are expanding their partnerships with music, navigation and video applications to integrate them into their platforms. BYD is even developing a karaoke app, very popular in China, for European audiences.

At Leapmotor, a virtual assistant called Xiao Ling can identify up to eight people using the car using facial recognition, a trend increasingly used by manufacturers. It remembers users’ preferences, adjusting seat positions, interior lighting and automatically suggesting their home address. Although he only speaks Chinese now, a French version is planned. Mercedes also plans to offer a similar experience, even including massages on board.

Can autonomous driving make a comeback?

With the prospect of autonomous driving taking the driver’s attention away from the road, screens are now taking center stage in cars. Some are integrated into the dashboard, while others take the form of tablets or even original round screens like the latest electric Mini Cooper.

Most of these screens also offer the ability to play video games, which are a growing market. According to expert Andreas Nienhaus of Oliver Wyman, augmented reality in the future can provide interaction between the game and what is happening on the road.

Some Chinese brands like Hiphi go even further. Their virtual assistant can move with an articulated arm to adapt to the person talking to it. In addition, the car can project films on the wall or symbols on the roadway with the help of headlights. Smileys are even displayed on the screen under the headlights to warn pedestrians.

What’s the future for these electronics-packed cars?

One thing’s for sure, the days of dial counters and little dials to find your radio’s frequency seem a long way off, and we’re right to wonder when faced with such complexity, how these cars will “age”.. Tesla and Volvo provide some answers by “reimagining” the concept of restyling, that is, extending the life of cars by offering regular software updates.

However, it’s a bit hard to predict how these cars will age. Will they work in 30, 40 or 50 years? Would it be possible to restart EQS when “barn raised” for example? Undoubtedly, but it will be a little more difficult than today.

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