Swaraj Baggonkar

Moneycontrol

Interactive navigation, artificial intelligence, advanced vehicle diagnostic solutions as well as semi and fully autonomous driving is what Tata Motors, India’s largest vehicle manufacturer is working on for the future.

Speaking at the Future Decoded summit in Mumbai where Indian-American Chief of Microsoft Satya Nadella praised automakers for adopting new connectivity solutions, Guenter Butschek, Managing Director of Tata Motors said that the future is not only about products but about services as well.

“We need the 'out of the box’ thinking, we need to think beyond the product and its four wheels. In future it's not about the product only but the future is about the product and services. The car is actually the extended personality of the individual and having said that the backbone of all this is connectivity. The connected car is the only opportunity to allow customers to be part of a wider digitally paced ecosystem,” said Butschek in his keynote address at the summit.



Tata Motors and Microsoft are jointly working on offering digital driving experience, which will allow car owners advanced navigation, predictive maintenance and vehicle centric services, remote monitoring of car features, external mobile experiences and over-the-air updates.



“The one sector which is at forefront of the digital revolution is the auto industry. Companies like Renault, BMW and now Tata Motors have adopted to that change”, said Nadella at the summit.



“Our understanding about connectivity is when you can actually keep your hands on the steering wheel while staying fully connected which supports improved productivity while driving,” said Butschek.



Microsoft and Tata Motors began working with each other last year. Tata Motors wil showcase a new car under a new brand TAMO with the new technology at the Geneva Motor Show next month. TAMO will provide a digital eco-system which will be leveraged by Tata Motors to support the mainstream business in the future.

“Connected cars can actually open up a new experience to the consumers, which is where he will experience interactive navigation. In the mid to long-term we are going to get to autonomous driving moving from semi-autonomous driving but our key focus in order to provide affordable solutions to enhance safety norms,” added Butschek.



Microsoft will perhaps use its products like Office 365, Outlook, Power BI and Skype for Business for India. Outside the country the US-based company has tapped other additional services like Cortana, Bing and Dynamics which are part of the Microsoft Connected Vehicle Platform.