On the road but in the cloud

Infotainment specialist Harman, a division of Samsung, is positioning itself to automakers as a provider of experiences through connected technology, and it won a major contract to supply the technology for BMW's first 5G-connected car, the iNext SUV.

COO Michael Mauser, 56, who will become CEO on April 1, spoke with Automotive News Europe Correspondent Nick Gibbs about how Harman sees connectivity shaping the vehicle experience. Here are edited excerpts.

Q: What do automakers want in the dashboard of the future?

A: They are looking for experiences. When I started with Harman 22 years ago, there was no interaction, no connectivity. Customers now have expectations taken from their smartphone experience. That's the reason we have seen the revolution to a fully connected digital cockpit.

What can connectivity bring?

Personalization. Consumers want to personalize their experience, such as the lighting or the music. It will become intelligent, which means providing the services even without asking you.

What's driving this change?

The consumer. They will pick the car that offers the best user experience. Consumers are expecting more from a car than just horsepower.

That sounds costly for automakers.

The solution is clearly not in hardware. The hardware has to have the right architecture to support these future updates, but we are turning away from a device-centric approach to a content and application-services approach. The more processing and content provision we can do out of the cloud, the better.