By Brett Clenton and Nick Bunkley
The Detroit News
DETROIT - Automakers face big challenges as they try to meet consumer demand for more in-vehicle entertainment and other electronics.
Not only must cool new gadgets hold up under wide temperature ranges and road vibration, the technology must be safe, reliable and add value to the vehicle. Automakers don't want, and can't afford, to take the blame when an ill-timed crash of a vehicle's onboard computer system causes a traffic accident.
Amid competition in the industry as fierce as it has ever been, automakers say they will continue to use electronics to gain an edge with consumers, especially after seeing the runaway success of features such as rear-seat DVD players and satellite radio.
But experts at the Convergence 2004 automotive electronics expo in Detroit said automakers must find smarter ways to implement technology so customers get what they want and automakers don't break the bank, or sacrifice quality, giving it to them.
"With all the accomplishments in our industry, you would think our jobs would be getting easier," said Franz Fehrenbach, chairman of the board of management at Robert Bosch GMBH, one of the world's largest automotive electronics suppliers. "Our work, however, is far from over."
As recently as the mid-1970s, less than 9 percent of a vehicle's value was derived from electronics. By 2010, that number is expected to approach 40 percent. But as the number of electronics functions has risen, so has the number of reported defects per vehicle, which can erode vehicle brand image.
That's because customers tend to be less tolerant of problems with vehicles than with consumer electronics such as cell phones, said Bill Mattingly, a vice president of electronics engineering for DaimlerChrysler AG's Chrysler Group.
Many consumers don't appreciate that it takes much longer to test and develop new technologies for their car than it does for their living room and that the product has to remain relevant to a vehicle owner for years.
"We don't have the luxury of introducing a product that's 99 percent there and then keep updating it with later versions," said Jim Buczkowski, director of Ford Motor Co.'s electronics division.
The short life span of many consumer electronics also poses a major obstacle for automakers that spend years designing new vehicles. Electronics that are state-of-the-art when a car's development cycle begins will be out-of-date by the time it reaches production.
Take hands-free cell phone systems. Today's versions are already being criticized for their inability to recognize different speech patterns, accents or voice levels. So automakers must explain that future versions will be far superior if consumers will just wait for them.
To better keep up with advances, automotive electronics must be standardized and upgradeable, said Giorgio Audisio, deputy general manager of Fiat Auto SpA.
Automakers' push to overcome obstacles with auto electronics is driven in large part by their drive to capitalize on growing demand for in-vehicle entertainment, said Bob Schumacher, general director of wireless products at Delphi Electronics & Safety in Troy, Mich.
Almost a third of sport utility vehicles and minivans sold now have a video screen for the back seat, and satellite radio is the fastest-selling audio product in more than 20 years.
Drivers will soon be able to use portable hard drives to take their collection of music and movies on the road and wireless networking will allow people to download digital media into their car as it's parked in the garage.
The conversion to digital television later this decade will make live TV the next big wave in vehicle entertainment, Schumacher said.
Wireless navigation and vehicle monitoring systems also have huge potential but major stumbling blocks, said Pat Kennedy, CEO of Cellport Systems in Boulder, Colo. The auto industry cannot move forward without adopting only one of the more than half a dozen ways for portable devices to communicate with vehicles, he said.
It has already become clear that cell phones will be the central device for the telematics industry, with phones gaining many more features than are available today.
"Eventually," Kennedy said, "we're going to see phones evolve into Swiss Army knives."
Tech hurdles
Challenges for in-vehicle entertainment and electronics:
