Toyota, Lexus to Include Amazon Alexa in Select Models

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Toyota Motor Corp (ADR) (NYSE:TM) and Lexus are rolling out Amazon.com, Inc.’s (NASDAQ:AMZN) Alexa to a select number of vehicles in the future.

Toyota

The two companies are hoping to cash in on the e-commerce giant’s software with voice commands in order to create a more automated driving experience for those behind the wheel. Although the concept sounds like the future of driving technology, cars will not be able to use voice assistants for an entirely autonomous driving experience.

Toyota said on Tuesday that its vehicles with the Entune 3.0 infotainment systems, plus Lexus models with the Enfrom 2.0 system, will begin getting Alexa capabilities this year. It is unclear which models specifically will get it, but Entune 3.0 first came to the fold last year via the 2018 Toyota Camry.

The automaker added that more models will get Alexa in 2019, but it has offered no details regarding what functions Alexa will offer outside of the vehicles’ infotainment systems. In the past, voice assistants in vehicles only had a few functionalities, including the ability to control lights, locks and starting engines.

“Voice services are rapidly becoming more popular and through our integration with Amazon Alexa, Toyota and Lexus customers will soon be able to easily speak to Alexa in their cars while on-the-go,” Zack Hicks, senior vice president and chief information officer of Toyota Motor North America and CEO and president of Toyota Connected, said in a news release.


Article printed from InvestorPlace Media, https://investorplace.com/2018/01/toyota-amazon-alexa-amazon-tm-amzn/.

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