When this year’s International Consumer Electronics Show (CES) opens on Wednesday, one of the most prominently displayed products will be cars. That’s right, this is the year that self-driving cars, in-car infotainment systems and, bad news for carmakers, more ride-sharing offers take center stage at the world’s largest tech show.
Ford Motor Co. (NYSE: F) announced early Monday morning that it is expanding its SYNC automobile connectivity system to include CarPlay from Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL), Android Auto from Google and Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOGL) and 4G LTE connectivity.
The SYNC 3 system will be available first in the model year 2017 Ford Escape, due out later this year, and Ford said all its 2017 vehicles will offer the new system. Owners of 2016 vehicles equipped with the system will have “an opportunity to upgrade later in the year.” Whether that upgrade will be free is not specified in the press release.
Ford claims 15 million vehicles equipped with SYNC are now on the road and that number is expected to rise to 43 million by 2020. The system was launched in 2007, and Ford said that SYNC 3 “features all-new hardware and software for faster performance, more conversational voice recognition, a smartphone-like touch screen, and easier-to-understand graphical interface for a growing number of Ford vehicles in North America,” in addition to the ability to play nice with CarPlay and Android Auto.
Be prepared for more announcements of new technology in cars as the auto industry struggles to maintain control of its business. Self-driving vehicles equipped with the latest technology and that can be shared are a long-term threat to the industry that posted one of its best sales years ever in 2015. Most analysts see 2016 as another very good year, but sales are expected to begin to drop off in 2017. If the auto industry sits on its hands, car sales will follow music CD sales off the cliff.
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