Jaguar Land Rover to feature new integrated voice control

At the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, Jaguar Land Rover announced Amazon Alexa will be available on all new and existing vehicles fitted with its advanced Pivi Pro infotainment system. Owners of compatible vehicles will be able to enjoy the benefits of intuitive voice-enabled experiences, thanks to a forthcoming software-over-the-air update.

The seamless integration brings the familiar Alexa experience into the vehicle, and provides natural voice interaction with Pivi Pro’s features, including navigation, media playback, phone calls and compatible smart devices.

As part of Jaguar Land Rover’s Reimagine strategy, this represents a step-change in its connected services capability and will deliver a modern luxury experience for customers. It will also accelerate Jaguar Land Rover’s transformation into a digital leader in the automotive industry.

The engineering teams from Jaguar Land Rover and Amazon worked in close partnership to ensure the seamless integration of Alexa with Pivi Pro. This collaborative approach to development ensures customers will enjoy the same Alexa experience in their vehicles that they already know and love from home, and benefit from even greater functionality in the future.

Alexa understands commonly-used commands, making the experience intuitive to use. This makes it easy for customers to operate commonly-used functions while keeping their hands on the wheel and eyes on the road.

Requests such as “Alexa, navigate me home”, “Alexa, play my chill-out playlist” and “Alexa show me nearby coffee shops” can all be done by voice, without touching Pivi Pro’s touchscreen. Alexa also enables customers to check the news, the weather and manage their schedule or shopping list, just by asking.

“The seamless integration of Amazon Alexa with our Pivi Pro infotainment system gives customers simple, intuitive voice control of regularly used features,  making the driving experience even more enjoyable,” said Alex Heslop, Jaguar Land Rover Director of Electrical and Electronic Engineering. “The fact we can also offer this new feature to existing customers proves the value of our software-over-the-air-updates.”

For his part, Christian Mentz, Head of Alexa Automotive International, noted that: “customers around the world interact with Alexa billions of times each week, making life easier, more productive, and more fun.

“We’re excited to deliver that same delightful, convenient experience to Jaguar and Land Rover customers – and because Alexa is always getting smarter, new features and capabilities will be added over time and delivered to their vehicles automatically.”

Alexa was first revealed on the New Range Rover and will now be offered across the portfolio of Jaguar and Land Rover vehicles. More than 200,000 existing owners of models fitted with Pivi Pro will also be able to benefit from the new technology, thanks to a software-over-the-air (SOTA) update, available in early 2022.

The update showcases how Jaguar Land Rover’s SOTA technology can enable customers to enjoy the latest technological developments, without having to visit their Retailer.

Set-up is easy: all customers have to do is link Alexa to their InControl⁶ account by scanning a QR code on the Pivi Pro touchscreen, and then follow a few simple steps.

Jaguar and Land Rover Alexa customers in the UK and US will also be able to control and check on their vehicle wherever they are using the Jaguar and Land Rover Remote Skill and any Alexa-enabled device. “Alexa, ask Jaguar to check my range”, “Alexa, ask Jaguar to start the climate”, “Alexa, ask Land Rover if my car is fully charged” or “Alexa, ask Land Rover if my doors are locked”, are just some of the features customers can access.