Anand Mahindra Asks What People Think About ‘Useless’ Tech In Cars

With the car becoming the biggest gadget in the world, carmakers across the globe have been working on packing a whole lot of tech in their cars. But a study conducted by JD Power revealed that overall satisfaction among car owners about the technology in cars has gone down. It notes that most people are choosing not to use the native infotainment interface. 56% of users chose to use the native infotainment system, down from 70% in 2020. This is due to the added complexity of these systems, the lack of physical controls, and a preference for phone-beaming systems like Android Auto and Apple CarPlay.

Anand Mahindra, Chairman of the Mahindra Group, cited this study in a tweet and asked individuals “What do you think? How widespread a view is this? “People are getting fed up with all the useless tech in their cars.”

Now, this question coming from Anand Mahindra also draws our attention to the fact that the company has been pushing to add more tech to its cars. The company’s last three launches, XUV700, Scorpio-N, and XUV400 are all connected cars and come filled to the brim with tech. In fact, the company’s AdrenoX Connected car tech provides more than 60 features. So, is this a signal to his team as well, to slow down, retrospect, and provide usable features only?

The question that the study raises is a valid one, are these features needed? or Is it overkill? A yearly subscription to Hyundai’s Bluelink services and Kia’s UVO come at a cost though both companies hold subscriptions free for 3 years. An email about the price of a subscription post 3 years for both companies has gone unanswered. While AdrenoX holds a subscription of Rs. 5,000 (free for 2 years),

This research also comes at a time when GM has said that it will be removing phone-beaming technologies from its vehicles in favour of its systems. Automakers are cagey about big tech companies encroaching on their turf. In the case of Apple, which has a very strict privacy policy, they also don’t get much data sharing.

On Mahindra’s tweet, Faisal Kawoosa, noted tech analyst and founder of TechArc replied, “Unfortunately sir the automobile industry is seeing cars as the next smartphone and try to add as many features and apps possible without any thought what would add value to consumers. We may claim a lot about customer centricity but the fact is we are using tech to push things.”

But the users prefer the simplicity of phone beaming technologies. Right now most new vehicles will have both Apple CarPlay and Android Auto alongside the OEM’s own interface strapped onto the screen.

Vikrant Kumar echoed this sentiment in a reply to the tweet saying, “The app feature is mostly for the geeks. The feature which gets used mostly is the Calls, Navigation, and Music system. Connected Car doesn't make sense to the user but to the automaker and Authority. And burdening the buyers with that (mostly paid subscription) is an overkill.”