BMW Group is teaming up with technology company Amazon and will fit their Alexa voice-controlled personal assistant system to vehicles from next year.
The intelligent system, which was released to the public in November 2014, is currently used along with Amazon’s Echo and Echo Dot voice-controlled home speakers and will be used in all BMW and Mini cars from mid-2018.
Alexa has been used alongside BMW’s Connected infotainment service since 2016 to offer information on vehicles, such as charge or fuel available.
But this announcement sees the full Alexa experience becoming available to all BMW Group models and allows you to control the entertainment system, receive personal updates on the weather and traffic, and use Amazon’s shopping service.
BMW Group senior vice president for digital services and business models, Dieter May 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.”
Ned Curic, Alexa Automotive vice president, added: “We are excited to work with BMW to bring the Alexa experience to their drivers.
“Using your voice to enjoy content and interact with Alexa makes a great driving experience even better. We can’t wait for BMW customers to try this out.”
Alexa will come with BMW and Mini models in the UK, USA and Germany.
