Ask HN: Why there are no startups building car infotainments? | Hacker News Reader

Ask HN: Why there are no startups building car infotainments?

1 pointmathverse9 comments

Car infotainment seems to be at the forefront for car manufacturers and they obviously suck at it. I am puzzled that there are no startups building what could easily be just a linux distro with its own DE in a relatively well defined and constrained environment.

View on HN

Almost all car head units are custom fit now. We've lost the era of the standard Double DIN. Pioneer, Kenwood and others are still around because people are still retrofitting older vehicles. But once all of those are off the road, expect the entire market to disappear.

Selling to extremely large companies is difficult.

Safety regulations mean that car companies want to deal with other big companies, or those with big enough insurance.

Buyers don't buy based on infotainment.

What makes you think it "sucks" for the majority of buyers? Have you spoken to normal drivers to see if it is something that genuinely bothers them? If so, how much more would they be willing to pay for a better infotainment system?

Finally, who actually buys cars? Most of them are fleet - not individuals.

> who actually buys cars? Most of them are fleet - not individuals.

What do you mean here? The total fleet share of new vehicle sales in 2023 was only 17.5%.

It was around 60% in the UK https://www.fleetnews.co.uk/news/half-a-million-new-company-...

Didn't Apple and Google both already try and fail at this?

Google is being adopted by more and more automakers.

Do you mean their Automotive OS, not just Android Auto?

Yes. I can't keep the names straight.

Sorry, I wasn't nitpicking... I just didn't realize Automotive OS actually lived on! I thought it died a few years ago, but apparently Ford is adopting it. Anyone else? I would love to see this get more uptake, but I didn't think the manufacturers were going that route. Some, like GM and Tesla and Rivian, are altogether avoiding Google and Apple in favor of their own systems, aren't they?

Reply on news.ycombinator.com