These 5 car manufacturers from Japan will work together on a next-gen in-car communications devices.
We’ve noted before that the Japanese car industry is moving towards two camps. On the one hand, the Renault Nissan Mitsubishi Alliance. On the other, is Toyota and the rest. Just about every Japanese automaker that’s not Nissan or Mitsubishi has already signed up to Toyota’s Monet Technologies e-mobility solutions.
Yesterday, a new development was announced, a majority of the manufacturers that had signed up with Toyota before have agreed to jointly develop technical specifications for next-generation vehicle communication devices.
These car brands are:
- Suzuki
- Subaru
- Daihatsu
- Mazda
- Toyota
The two missing brands from this list are Isuzu and Honda. Isuzu may either piggyback off Mazda or they may have some separate system with GM. Honda usually develops things in-house, which lets them take the lead in many areas. Or they could be employing a wait-and-see strategy.
What was agreed upon by these 5 Japanese brands
Let’s be clear, it’s not that all 5 brands are going to have the same infotainment systems in the next generation. No.
What’s happening is that they are developing vehicle communications devices as a single unit. This will cover the basic functions of connected cars. All the other aspects, like graphics, interface, software, and services will remain independent.
By sharing the same technical specifications of the communications “back end”, two objectives can be met.
First, it reduces the development burdens of each company.
Secondly, it simplifies system operation and version upgrades.
Thirdly, it will make connected services in cars better and faster for the customer.
As cars start to become even more connected and autonomous, it’s going to be very important that this aspect is developed in a cohesive manner. This group of 5 Japanese car brands are open to let other companies join in.
Here’s the press release with more.
PRESS RELEASE
Suzuki Motor Corporation (Suzuki), Subaru Corporation (Subaru), Daihatsu Motor Co. Ltd. (Daihatsu), Toyota Motor Corporation (Toyota), and Mazda Motor Corporation (Mazda) reached an agreement to jointly develop technical specifications for next-generation vehicle communications devices and to promote the common use of communications systems, by using connected services to link automobiles and society with the aim of creating new appeal, value and services, to be standardized for early provision of safer and more convenient connected services.
Within the field of CASE (connected, autonomous/automated, shared, and electric), which is said to be bringing about major transformations in the automotive industry, rapid advances are being made in the connected domain, in relation to the communications and data aspects of technology and business including cloud services, IoT, big data, and AI. Individual automobile manufacturers are independently developing vehicle communications devices, and even in cases where the same connected services such as remote operation functions are provided, each company is adopting a different approach in proceeding with development and deploying relevant resources.
In response to these circumstances, the companies can provide safer and more convenient connected services to customers as early as possible, by positioning the development of vehicle communications devices, which are basic functions of the connected car, as a cooperative domain; positioning the development of applications and services as an in-house domain; and achieving greater efficiency and accelerating the development of vehicle communications devices. Each company can focus more on the development of applications and services on this common infrastructure through these steps.
At this time, Suzuki, Subaru, Daihatsu, and Mazda, while incorporating their own technologies into the base vehicle communications technologies developed by Toyota, will together build systems for next-generation connected cars with common connection specifications from vehicles to networks and the vehicle communications device center. As a result, by stabilizing the communication quality between vehicles and vehicle communications device center further, it will be possible to provide more convenient connected services to customers, such as clearer calls between customers and operators and faster connection speeds. At the same time, it will be possible to reduce the development burdens of each participating company and simplify system operation and version upgrades that include additional new functions, thereby optimizing resources such as facilities and personnel.
Suzuki, Subaru, Daihatsu, Toyota, and Mazda will openly consider collaboration with other like-minded partners regarding the joint development agreed on at this time while continuing their efforts to develop services that enrich the lives of people and solve social problems.
