Berlin — Google and Porsche are in talks about a possible deal to allow Google apps to be used in Porsche dashboards, German business monthly Manager Magazin reported on Thursday, citing managers from both companies.
A focus of the deal would be access to Google Maps, the report added. Spokespeople for Porsche and Google weren’t immediately available for comment.
Porsche CFO Lutz Meschke said on a conference call last October that the company was in close contact with Google and Apple as well as Baidu, Tencent and Alibaba in China after the end of its co-operation with Volkswagen’s Cariad unit on software research & development.
Porsche had previously been reluctant to use Google software because Google asked for too much data to be shared, according to Manager Magazin, even as Volkswagen brand Audi enabled its customers to connect their vehicles to Android phones.
Technology companies from Google to Apple and Amazon are in a race to control carmakers’ dashboards as software becomes an integral part of car design.
General Motors, Renault, Nissan and Ford are among carmakers that use embedded Google technology in their vehicles via a Google Automotive Services (GAS) package, offering features including Google Maps and Google Assistant.
Porsche managers travelled to the US in 2021 to discuss possible joint projects with iPhone maker Apple, whose CarPlay software already features in Porsche vehicles.
But some automakers are wary of allowing the tech giants unfettered access to the data generated by connected cars, or to allow them to displace the automakers’ brands with their own in dashboard displays.
BMW, for example, was “definitely not taking the path” of integrating GAS into its cars, a spokesperson said on Thursday: “It is important to the company to keep hold of the customer interface,” they said.
Porsche, which overtook its former parent as Europe’s most valuable carmaker after listing on the stock exchange last September, earlier on Thursday reported a 3% rise in deliveries in 2022.
Reuters
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