Hyundai has become the first car manufacturer to offer Android Auto, more specifically with the 2015 Hyundai Sonata. The system could find its way into millions of vehicles over the next few years. Hyundai expect to launch Android Auto for Canadian Sonata vehicles this summer, for the 2016 model. A software update for all 2015 Sonatas should release at around the same time.
Development of Android Auto started in 2014 when a number of automakers including Hyundai, Audi, GM, and Honda joined the Google-led Open Automotive Alliance.
In order to use Android Auto in their car, drivers will just have to plug their smartphone into the dashboard. When the interface lights up, the smartphone display automatically locks to prevent texting while driving.
The launch of the 2015 Hyundai Sonata featuring Android Auto is a huge victory for the Korean manufacturer, which hoped to be the first to offer this new in-car technology. It's an equally big win for Google over Apple's CarPlay.
Cason Grover, a senior manager at Hyundai Motor America, said that when he got into his car to leave for a business trip one day, Android Auto asked whether he wanted to set the airport as his destination because it knew from his Google calendar that he had a flight departing a few hours later.