The big Android Auto news of the week was the fact that Lincoln and Mercedes finally joined the Open Automotive Alliance. For the uninitiated, this basically means that the two auto makers are going to be putting Android Auto into their vehicles. This is pretty big news, as there are only a handful of car makers that are currently not in the alliance.
It was a bit surprising to see Lincoln join the OAA seeing as their parent company, Ford Motor Company, was part of the alliance since the beginning. Lincoln had also already announced Android Auto for the 2017 Continental. Nevertheless it’s great to see Lincoln joining the OAA and also adding the 2017 MKC to their Android Auto fleet. Lincoln isn’t bringing Android Auto to all of their models just yet, but that likely will come in the next few model years. This isn’t surprising to see Lincoln bringing Android Auto to just a few models at first, because models come out at different parts of the model year. And it’s important for car makers to get their customers opinions before bringing a new service like Android Auto to all of their models.
When it comes to Mercedes, things are a bit different. The luxury manufacturer did not announce any plans for Android Auto, and only joined the Open Automotive Alliance. Mercedes will likely announce some Android Auto plans either later this year at the LA Auto Show or early next year at the North American International Auto Show in January.
While it’s great to see Lincoln and Mercedes join in the fun that is the Open Automotive Alliance, there’s still a few names missing from the Alliance. The most glaring one is Toyota. Many of our readers have expressed their displeasure in Toyota not being part of the OAA. However, Toyota has expressed displeasure in using Android Auto in their car. Toyota believes that their infotainment system is “perfect”, and that they don’t need to offer Android Auto nor Apple CarPlay to their customers. Now they may change this stance in the future, if customers make their voice known with their wallet. But that’s going to be a tough one.
What this all means is that we’re going to see more and more cars, trucks and SUVs on the road with Android Auto. And that’s definitely a good thing. As Android Auto continues to expand and get into even more vehicles.