Toyota announced at CES that it’s partnering with Amazon to adopt Alexa in its vehicles. The assistant will be enabled to work with its newest infotainment platforms. Toyota said that vehicles with the Entune 3.0 infotainment system, and Lexus models with the Enform 2.0 system, will start getting Alexa capabilities this year.
The automaker in its didn’t announce which specific models Alexa would come to, but Entune 3.0 made its debut last year on the 2018 Toyota Camry, so it’s safe to say that the latest models will get it, while other models getting Alexa in 2019.
“Voice services are rapidly becoming more popular and through our integration with Amazon Alexa, Toyota and Lexus customers will soon be able to easily speak to Alexa in their cars while on-the-go,” Zack Hicks, senior vice president and chief information officer of Toyota Motor North America and chief executive officer and president of Toyota Connected, said Tuesday in a news release.
With Alexa coming to Toyota and Lexus systems, Alexa’s skills for smart phone, directions, and media controls, all would be enabled through the infotainment system. This is a big step forward from other automakers that have used voice assistants in their cars but limited functionality to controlling just lights, locks, and starting engines.
