These past few weeks, we’ve heard from a lot of car makers in the Open Automotive Alliance or the OAA, about their plans for Android Auto, and now they actually have cars on the road with Android Auto on them. Hyundai and Chevy were a couple of those car makers to announced that just before Google I/O last week. Now there’s a new kid on the block that plans on offering Android Auto in their cars. And its Indian car maker Mahindra & Mahindra. They are going to offer the service in their SUVs. Which include the XUV500 and the Scorpio.
“At Mahindra we have always been committed to introducing newer technological offerings in our vehicles in an endeavour to create an enriched user experience and provide better value technologies to our customers. Going forward, after successful integration, we will be offering Android Auto in our flagship models of XUV 500 and the Scorpio as well as on our future platforms,” said Pravin Shah, President and Chief Executive (Automotive), Mahindra & Mahindra.
Currently there’s no word on when the XUV500 and the Scorpio will have Android Auto in their cars that are being sold. But it shouldn’t be too much longer, seeing as Google has indeed launched the software, finally. With Android Auto, users are able to use Google Maps for navigation, as well as make calls through the cars’ speaker system from their phone. Additionally, they can stream music straight from the phone through the cars’ stereo as well. It’s a really great system to have, especially since it is more or less the same interface as what you get from Google. Any smartphone running Android Lollipop or higher is compatible with Android Auto, which is great especially for those that buy the Android One phones in India and other developing markets.
Mahindra is the first Indian car maker to join the Open Automotive Alliance and add Android Auto to their cars. Which is a great thing, and hopefully we see more and more auto makers jump on board. As Android Auto is a great choice for infotainment, seeing as they own more than three-quarters of the market share.