Whom You Know: Cruising Peachy: Amazon and BMW Bring Alexa to the Road

Sunday, October 1, 2017

Cruising Peachy: Amazon and BMW Bring Alexa to the Road

BMW Group will integrate Alexa into their vehicles in the US, UK and Germany starting in 2018

Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) and BMW announced that Amazon Alexa will be available in BMW and MINI vehicles starting in mid-2018. Ask Alexa in-car to get directions, call a business, play music or Audible content, control your smart home, check the news, and more while you're on the go - without downloading a separate app.

Customers will also have access to tens of thousands of Alexa skills from third-party developers like Starbucks, NPR, and TED Talks, among others. For many requests, Alexa will provide voice responses paired with visual cards on BMW's and MINI's control display, such as to do lists or weather forecasts.

"We are excited to work with BMW to bring the Alexa experience to their drivers," said Ned Curic, Vice President, Alexa Automotive. "Voice is a big part of the future, especially in cars. Using your voice to enjoy content and interact with your car makes a great driving experience even better. We can't wait for BMW customers to try this out."

"By making this step and integrating Alexa into our models from 2018, BMW and MINI will form a more intrinsic part of our customers' digital lifestyles," remarked Dieter May, Senior Vice President Digital Services and Business Models at the BMW Group. "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."

Voice is a natural way to interact with your car while you're on the go. For example, you will be able to ask Alexa to turn on the porch lights or adjust your home's temperature when you start the drive home from work. Or, you could ask Alexa to order your favorite Starbuckscoffee drink so you can skip the line and get on with your day.

This in-car experience builds on the BMW Connected skill for Alexa that was introduced in 2016. The skill helps customers control their vehicle - including activating climate control, locking the doors, and more - from any Alexa-enabled device.

Amazon Alexa will be available in all 2018 model year BMW and MINI vehicles from mid-2018 in the US, UK, and Germany.

About Amazon

Amazon is guided by four principles: customer obsession rather than competitor focus, passion for invention, commitment to operational excellence, and long-term thinking. Customer reviews, 1-Click shopping, personalized recommendations, Prime, Fulfillment by Amazon, AWS, Kindle Direct Publishing, Kindle, Fire tablets, Fire TV, Amazon Echo, and Alexa are some of the products and services pioneered by Amazon. For more information, visit www.amazon.com/about and follow @AmazonNews.

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