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41 from other felds, like robotics and autonomous drones. (The IHS study reckons that the price premium for self- driving electronics technology will add between $7,000 and $10,000 to the price of a car in 2025, $5,000 in 2030, and $3,000 in 2035. Interestingly, because the Level 5 vehicle doesn't have any driver controls, it is expected that it will be less costly than Level 4 systems before 2035.) 3. Market. Juliussen says there are a number of groups that would beneft from self-driving vehicles, from senior citizens to people without licenses. He adds, "There is little data on how people with driver licenses would react to self-driving cars, but most would prefer self-driving for the tedious and boring drives in trafc jams." One of the original telematics systems installed in vehicles, OnStar, launched in 1996 as a dealer-installed feature; the 1999 Cadillac Escalade was the frst vehicle with a factory-installed system. OnStar is integrated into the vehicle's electrical architecture. Consequently, it can allow such things as "Vehicle Slowdown," which can be used by law enforcement personnel in case of a stolen car or other circumstances. Given that, one of the best explana- tions as to why an embedded system can be advantageous compared to using one's own smartphone to drive in-vehicle telematics is provided by Phil Abram, GM Chief Infotainment Ofcer. He—perhaps somewhat facetiously— points out, "If a thief steals your car, vehicle slowdown can't be performed unless he steals your phone, too. Then you'd have to call him and ask him to slow down." It's not that GM is only about embedding. "We fully get and support brought-in devices," Abram says. "We were the frst to ofer integration of Siri Eyes Free mode last year on the Chevy Sonic and Spark. We're working with Google and Apple on integrating brought-in devices." But he thinks the embedded approach is advantageous, especially as the company announced that it is bringing 4G LTE into OnStar-equipped vehicles. While Audi has announced that it is bringing 4G LTE too, Abram notes that GM is doing it across its brands, so that there will be more than 30 vehicles— low-cost and lux—so equipped, whereas Audi is starting with the A3 only. Abram believes that vehicle con-nectivity and technology are going to be the prime diferentiators, along with styling, when it comes to decisions about what vehicles to buy. He points out that not only is bad quality less of an issue than in the past, in cases where there is bad quality, the ability for people to quickly and extensively communicate on line about that makes it difcult, if not impossible for any company to keep bad quality in the market. And when it comes to fuel economy, that's being driven by regulation, so that's not necessarily a competitive advantage, either. And according to the J.D. Power 2014 U.S. Avoider Study released in mid- January, the data support Abram's contention. According to the study, having the latest tech is a key factor for those who are buying domestic vehicles, with 38% of buyers saying that it is important (vs. 33% for buyers of import buyers). It also found that 40% of former import owners switched to domestic brands because of new technology and features. According to J.D. Power research director Jon Osborn, "Domestic brands in general are carving out a niche for themselves with the latest technological features, and it appears to be getting the attention of consumers." Abram holds up his smartphone and points out that the way it is used is "the absolute antithesis" to the behavior that should be part of the infotainment experience in a car or truck: In order to interact with the phone it is generally necessary to look intently at the screen and make selections. He says that he has iHeartRadio on his smartphone, and that it is an app ofered through OnStar, as well. "But we've made it an experience appropriate for a car. We ran it through our distracted driving lab and made sure that the way people interact with it meet the requirements and our guidelines in terms of distracted driving. That took a lot of work between iHeart and us because people weren't used to writing apps for cars." Abram is not a GM or auto industry lifer by any means. He joined the automaker in January 2012, having spent the previous 30 years in the consumer electronics industry: prior to joining GM he was the president and COO of Sonos ( sonos.com ), a wireless audio company. He explains that he went to GM because he saw the intersection between the consumer electronics world and that of auto, he saw it as being at "an infection point." (An interesting note vis-à-vis how one's point of view can change whether one is working for a tech start-up like Sonos or a consumer electronics company like Sony Electronics (where Abram was prior to Sonos) or an automaker like General Motors. "I used to say, 'Why does it take four years to make a car? I can get a product out in eight months.' You get here and understand that a car is one large integration of things and that if you get something wrong, it's very bad. If you get an app bad, it's not as consequential.") One of the concerns that some people in the industry have is that young people are showing a marked disinterest in driving. One of the ways that they believe they'll be able to increase interest is through the implementation of infotainment technology. Abram says that they've actually got data regarding the importance of connectivity, so it isn't a matter of belief but fact. "We introduced MyLink [in model year 2012] in a number of markets around the 0314ADP FEATURE Electronics.indd 41 2/18/2014 3:31:10 PM