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GM puts e-commerce shopping in car dashboards

DETROIT — General Motors on Tuesday said it will equip newer cars with in-dash e-commerce technology, betting it can profit as drivers order food, find fuel or reserve hotel rooms by tapping icons on the dashboard screen, instead of using smartphones while driving. GM's Marketplace technology, developed with IBM, will be uploaded automatically to about 1.9 million model-year 2017 and later vehicles starting immediately, with about 4 million vehicles across the Chevrolet, Buick, GMC and Cadillac brands equipped with the capability in the United States by the end of 2018, GM said. GM will get an undisclosed amount of revenue from merchants featured on its in-dash Marketplace, Santiago Chamorro, GM vice president for global connected customer experience, said during a briefing for reporters. Customers will not be charged for using the service or the data transmitted to and from the car while making transactions, he said. "This platform is financed by the merchants," Chamorro said. GM will get paid for placing a merchant's application on its screens, and "there's some level of revenue sharing" based on each transaction, he said. It is too soon to say how much revenue GM could realize from the Marketplace system, he said. The GM Marketplace will compete for customer clicks and revenue with hand-held smartphones, which offer a far richer array of applications than the GM system will at the outset. Amazon.com is partnering with other automakers, including Ford, to offer in-car e-commerce capability through Amazon's Alexa personal assistant system. For example, GM will launch Marketplace with just Shell and Exxon Mobil icons in the fuel category. The only restaurant available for in-car table reservations at launch is the chain TGI Fridays, GM said. In addition, there will be apps for parking, and ordering ahead at coffee shops and restaurants such as Starbucks, Dunkin' Donuts and Applebee's. "We will be adding more vendors," with some coming in the first quarter of 2018, Chamorro said. In addition, he said GM plans to expand integration into its vehicles of music, news and other information services. GM also hopes to use its in-car Marketplace connections to expand purchases of products and services, such as additional access to in-car wifi, from its own replacement parts business and dealer network. Customers can "expect to see more service promotions coming through the platform," Chamorro said. Reporting by Joe WhiteRelated Video:

2022 Buick Enclave revealed with a handsome new look

Here is the 2022 Buick Enclave! That's all now. Move along. At least, that’s according to Buick, which offered no information beyond these two photos. We know itÂ’s for the 2022 model year, and we know it will go on sale “later this year.” The visual changes are obvious enough on their own. It amounts to what weÂ’d expect a mid-cycle refresh would look like. Buick gave it a totally new front and rear. WeÂ’re most taken by the new look up front, though. That grille gives it the presence it was lacking before, and the horizontal slashes meeting in the middle at the Buick logo are a nice touch. New LED headlights are slimmed way down and tuck in neatly under the hood. Even the lower bumper adds some pizazz with swooping lines and a handsome, verging on sporty, finish. Nothing much changes in the middle, but sharp LED taillights steal the show in back. TheyÂ’re still connected by a central trim piece, but itÂ’s been darkened and massaged to a cleaner look. Buick also looks like it has gone for a concealed exhaust design — it had a visible dual exhaust pipe exit before. The last obvious change is a new set of dark-painted wheels. There are certainly a number of tech updates to be found on the interior, but Buick isnÂ’t talking about (or showing) those yet. WeÂ’ll have to wait for a later date to know every last detail of the refreshed Enclave. For now, the styling changes are a nice change of pace and make it look far more appealing. Related video:

Hyundai tops VW and Buick in China, survey says

You may be aware of the long-time competition in China between Volkswagen and Buick, but another brand apparently should be in that conversation too: Hyundai. In a recently published annual consumer survey, the Korean company actually took the top spot to beat out its German and American rivals in second and third, respectively. The results were part of the China Brand Power Index that interviewed 11,500 people around the nation and was paid for by the country's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology. While Hyundai proved popular with voters, its sales haven't necessarily shown that yet. According to Bloomberg, the brand had falling numbers in China for the first quarter of the year. Even Ford outsold the South Korean automaker in the same period, despite scoring lower on the survey. Meanwhile, Audi ranked as the populace's favorite luxury brand, which is hardly a surprise given the Four Rings' strong sales in China. In January alone the automaker saw a 15-percent boost in volume there. Parent company VW's strong performance was somewhat more surprising, though. State media severely criticized the German automaker in March, and customers protested last year for the allegedly poor handling of a recall.