FCA, which operates its North American headquarters in Auburn Hills, today announced it is the first automaker to implement Amazon’s Alexa Custom Assistant into its vehicles.
The Alexa Custom Assistant solution is built directly on the Alexa technology stack within FCA’s Uconnect system and can be tailored to each FCA brand personality and customer need with a unique wake word, voice, skills, and capabilities.
This technology also introduces the unique capability of two in-vehicle voice assistants to simultaneously cooperate and fulfill customer requests. This allows the FCA intelligent assistant to act as the product specialist with features and capabilities specific to the vehicle, while Alexa helps the customer with weather, smart home control, music, and more.
“Our customers expect to easily connect with their digital lifestyles wherever they go and today we responded with plans to offer new intelligent experiences built on Alexa’s world-class voice AI technology,” says Mark Stewart, COO of FCA – North America.
The Alexa Custom Assistant enables this dual-assistant cooperation by using advanced artificial intelligence to determine the customer’s intent and then routing the request to the proper voice assistant for the job — if the assistant invoked by the customer cannot fulfill the request, but the other voice assistant can, it will hand-off the request without any additional customer participation, resulting in a convenient, intuitive and delightful customer experience.
“We are pleased to work with FCA as the first automotive partner to implement Alexa Custom Assistant in its vehicles,” says Ned Curic, vice president of Alexa Automotive. “FCA has made it a priority to offer an intelligent assistant experience their customers will love, and we are excited to collaborate with them to deliver that capability.”
FCA already has begun the planning process for the integration of the Alexa Custom Assistant in its future models.
FCA designs, engineers, manufactures, and sells vehicles around the world. The company’s portfolio includes such nameplates as Abarth, Alfa Romeo, Chrysler, Dodge, Fiat, Fiat Professional, Jeep, Lancia, Ram, and Maserati. It also sells parts and services under the Mopar name and operates in the components and production systems sectors under the Comau and Teksid brands. FCA employs nearly 200,000 people around the globe.
In related news, on the first day of operation for Stellantis — formed from the merger of FCA and Groupe PSA — company executives will ring the traditional opening bell of three stock exchanges where the new automaker’s shares will be listed.
Stellantis shares are expected to begin trading on Euronext in Paris and on the Borsa Italiana in Milan on Monday, Jan. 18, and on the New York Stock Exchange on Tuesday, Jan. 19. Participating executives include John Elkann, chairman; and Carlos Tavares, CEO. Stellantis opening ceremonies will be webcast:
Monday, Jan. 18:
- 2:50 a.m. EST / 8:50 CET – Euronext, Paris, France
- 3:00 a.m. EST / 9:00 CET – Borsa Italiana, Milan, Italy
Tuesday, Jan. 19:
- 9:25 a.m. EST / 3:25 p.m. CET – NYSE, New York
