Amazon Executive Says Demand for Alexa in Cars is ‘Through the Roof’

According to Ned Curic, the vice president of Amazon’s Alexa Auto, the demand for Alexa to be in cars is “through the roof.”

“Two and a half years ago, we had nothing,” he told CNBC following a tour of Amazon’s headquarters recently. “We’re much further than I thought we would be. I’m quite pleased with the speed we were able to build and deploy.”

The e-commerce giant is intending to capitalize on a growing demand for connectivity in vehicles and create a seamless ecosystem for Alexa on the go and at home.

Amazon has so far announced partnerships with 10 automakers.

Arianne Walker, Amazon chief evangelist of Alexa Auto, said the company is “essentially talking” with all major automakers on partnering in some form.

“It’s really more of a matter of getting things lined up for the cars that are going to be released as opposed to any hesitation,” said Walker.

“There is a lot of demand by automakers for having something like a Fire TV in a rear seat,” said Curic. “They still think it’s very important. It’s something we’re going to have to figure out. We’re doing lots of data analysis.”

General Motors has plans to embed Alexa into its vehicles and said in September the technology will be available on millions of newer Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet and GMC vehicles with compatible infotainment systems in the first half of next year.

“This brings the best of two fantastic companies,” Santiago Chamorro, GM’s vice president of global connected services, told CNBC at the time. “We have listened to our customers, and their insights are clear, they want to carry those ecosystems into their vehicles.”

Disclaimer: We have no position in any of the companies mentioned and have not been compensated for this article.