$, Data, and Control.
"But it appears as though not just the Detroit Three but the automotive industry in general has made two big decisions about its future.
The first strategic determination — that the future of locomotion will be electric has been obvious for a while.
But the second — that auto companies want to shape their own, proprietary approaches to the digital essence of their vehicles, rather than farm out the chore to Silicon Valley — is only now coming into view.
This is a significant but existentially necessary about-face for the company. Just several years ago, GM joined most other automakers in welcoming CarPlay and Android Auto into its vehicles because of the familiarity and ease of use for consumers of dealing with those well known smartphone interfaces compared with GM’s pioneering OnStar and other attempts in that space."
"It makes increasing sense for automakers to attempt to recapture the binary codes in their vehicles, for a number of reasons. Consumers’ purchase decisions increasingly are based on what tech a vehicle can offer, across a range of areas, as previous differentiators such as manufacturing product quality have evened out. Automakers have invested in, maintain and grow huge workforces of thousands of people, engineers and designers and software developers alike, who are solely dedicated to leveraging digital technology in various ways to make their vehicles and brands stand out; why cede that territory to outsiders?"
"Indeed, as software becomes increasingly central to a vehicle’s value proposition, the notion of reserving an “Apple” space in a Cadillac or a Highlander seems as out of place today as the old “Intel on the inside” positioning would be in a modern PC. Today, the software is the car, and the car is the software. Why should Apple get to be what drivers identify with in any vehicle?"
"Compare these two decisions with the earlier determinations that GM and Ford made about their battery systems for EVs. GM CEO Mary Barra made the early decision for her company to develop its own battery architecture, called Ultium, which it controls even with partnerships to manufacture the batteries. And after former Ford CEO Jim Hackett proceeded with EV development on the basis of outsourcing battery design and manufacture to other companies, one of the first major things current CEO Jim Farley did was execute a 180-degree switch in strategy so that Ford will produce its own batteries."
Reclaiming Digital Control Is Goal Of New Moves By General Motors, Ford
Years in the making, the U.S. auto industry may have passed an important tipping point in April: the point at which automakers began wresting control of the technology future of their industry from the limping digital juggernaut known as Big Tech.
www.forbes.com
