Hasta La Gadget!

You’d think Audi, BMW, and Mercedes-Benz, with all their technology wizardry, would have unleashed online technology to build first-class websites. Guess again. As best as we can tell, there’s virtually no link between technology savvy on four wheels and tech savvy in websites. That’s according to the results of the semi-annual Manufacturer Web Site Evaluation Study by J.D. Power & Associates, which surveyed 11,000 would-be buyers. Honda was tops this time around with a score of 863 out of a possible 1,000. Among those techie German automakers, only Porsche at No. 2 and Volkswagen (No. 20) made the top 20. Mercedes-Benz was just above average, BMW was just below, and Audi was No. 32 out of 36 brands.
In fact, there seems to be little correlation between quality of website and country of original, car quality, sales increases, brand excitement, or level of tech savvy in the car brands. The top 10 comprises five Japanese brands (but don’t they seem to win most every J.D. Power survey?), two U.S. brands with big-time sales woes (Jeep, Dodge), one German brand, one British/German brand (Mini), and one Korean brand (Kia, not up-and-coming Hyundai). Then there’s cachet and funky brand appeal: Among brands with a lot of sizzle, you’ve got Mini at No. 3, Scion at No. 35, and Smart dead last at No. 36. Go figure.

Pioneer has unveiled three in-dash navigation systems at its Road Show in Long Beach, Calif., today. The flagship $1,600 AVIC-Z110BT offers simultaneous map and route guidance info, iPod and iPhone connectivity, Bluetooth, HD and satellite radio, and voice control, all with a 7-inch motorized LCD screen. With an optional MSN Direct tuner, the unit gives updated traffic, weather, and local event info.

Meanwhile, the 5.8-inch, $900 AVIC-X710BT and $1100 AVIC-X910BT are mid-range units and include three sets of RCA outputs and a 50 watt x4 amplifier; the X910BT includes 3D landmark icons in the display and a built-in MSN Direct tuner. The low(er)-end, $599 4.3-inch AVIC-U310BT is a 2-DIN unit with voice-controlled turn-by-turn navigation, wireless Bluetooth, and iPod and iPhone control.

Imagine being able to tell your car where you want to go in a few words, or pick out your music without taking your eyes off the road. That’s what BMW promises this fall with its new voice control system. BMW (and the rest of the car world) is playing catch-up with Ford’s Sync system. It’s possible BMW has passed Ford on the navigation side; some of the new BMW audio input controls still seem stunted and cumbersome, at least based on what BMW is disclosing now. It’s available on 2009 BMWs worldwide, the company says.

BMW calls it a “truly innovative, cutting-edge technology for voice control” because a single voice command lets you give your car the entire address. In BMW’s example, after you’ve started the voice command by pressing a button on the steering wheel and then after you’ve summoned up the navigation module, you say something as simple as, “Berlin, Willy-Brandt-Strasse 1”, and you go straight to the Federal Chancellery. Assuming you’re not in Boston at the time.

That’s on top of BMW’s ability to send map information from Google Maps to your car. Mercedes- Benz also has a send-to-car feature. It’s a nice way to preload a bunch of vacation destinations and can also be helpful if your rich but technically inept brother-in-law can’t make navigation work in his new 7 Series; you can do it for him.