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When Android Automotive goes in the dash, Google wins — and automakers lose data

You've gotta hand it to Google for the way the Silicon Valley tech giant has made indelible inroads into the car on multiple fronts. The most obvious is with its pioneering self-driving car technology that's caused car companies to get their act together on autonomous vehicles — and also collaborate with Google. Google has more directly extended its influence and data-mining capabilities into the car with its Android Auto smartphone-projection platform that most major automakers have adopted along with Apple's CarPlay. And now it's preparing to dig even deeper into dashboards by deploying its open-source operating system, Android Automotive, beginning with Audi and Volvo. Volvo recently announced that its next-generation Sensus infotainment system will run Android Automotive as an OS and include Google's Play Store for cloud-based content, Maps for navigation and Google Assistant for voice recognition, which can even command a car's climate control. By embedding Google in the dash, Volvo says owners will get an improved connected experience. "Bringing Google services into Volvo cars will accelerate innovation in connectivity and boost our development in applications and connected services," Volvo senior vice president of R&D Henrik Green said in a statement. "Soon, Volvo drivers will have direct access to thousands of in-car apps that make daily life easier and the connected in-car experience more enjoyable." Having Android Automotive onboard could benefit drivers — and provide a big win for Google, since it opens a deep and lucrative new data-mining vein for the company. But it's a wave of a white flag for car companies when it comes to delivering their own cloud-based content and services. It also represents a massive data giveaway and, for Audi, a reversal of earlier reservations about letting Google get too much access to car data. Not long after Android Auto and Apple CarPlay were introduced in 2014 and most automakers eagerly embraced the technologies, several German automakers second-guessed their decision when they realized what was at stake: data. At a conference in Berlin in 2015, Audi CEO Rupert Stadler said car owners "want to be in control of their data, and not subject to monitoring." A few months earlier, Stadler stated that "the data that we collect is our data and not Google's.

2014 Volvo V60 to start at $35,300*

When Volvo announced US pricing for its updated 2014 model line, it left one vital model out of the equation: that would be the V60, the long-roofed version of the S60 sedan and the long-awaited replacement for the V70 wagon that left our shores nearly four years ago. But if you look at the V60's product page now, you'll see a starting MSRP listed at $35,300. That represents a $2,900 premium over the S60 and an $800 premium over the larger (but older) XC70 softroader.
Delve further into the online configuration tool and you'll see that the price is applied, naturally, to the base turbocharged five-cylinder, front-drive model. Go for the Premier or Platinum trims and the price begins to climb, as it does with the addition of all-wheel drive, the turbo six engine and the R-Design spec. You'll also need to account for the *$915 destination charge. Tick all the boxes and you'll soon be looking at a price tag of over $50,000. Order books open with the start of the new year.

New Volvo ad remembers the joy of rear-facing jump seats

With the rise in popularity of first the minivan and later the crossover as the default family vehicle, there have been about 20 years of children who have missed out on the joy of rear-facing jump seats in station wagons. It means kids today don't know the pleasure to be found in making faces or lewd gestures at other drivers while their parents can't see. Plus, they don't know the slightly nauseous feeling of watching the world pass by in reverse. However, a group of filmmakers look back with nostalgia at this increasingly uncommon automotive feature in a new ad for the 2015 Volvo V60.
As part of its sponsorship of the National Film Festival for Talented Youth, Volvo commissions a team each year to create an advertisement to be shown during the festival. This year's shows how the company's buyers have gone from riding in the back to driving the brand's cars. Scroll down to check out the charming ad, along with some wistful looks at classic Volvo wagons, before the jump seat is forgotten.