By Oddy Khamharn
Sr. Director of Automotive Sales and Product Planning at Chamberlain Group
My conversation with the first automaker to redefine in-vehicle garage control with myQ® Connected Garage
The garage remains one of the most active access points in the home. In the United States alone, a garage is opened or closed 500,000 times every minute*. And in my home, and millions of others, the attached garage door doubles as the main entryway to the home.
With the vital role the garage plays as the ultimate transition space between home and vehicle for drivers and homeowners alike, Chamberlain Group, an innovator in vehicle-to-home connectivity for more than 20 years, set out to enhance the driver experience when it comes to garage control.
With myQ technology, our dynamic technology platform that enables seamless smart access control, we explored the next frontier in myQ Smart Access solutions. We developed myQ® Connected Garage, a cloud-based software solution that gives drivers new levels of information and control into the home’s busiest access point. With this technology, we now have the right intuitive, scalable solution that helps drivers stay connected to home by knowing the status of the garage door with the added safety and convenience to control it, while on the road, from anywhere. But next, we needed a partner that believed in the same goal of providing this greater connection to the driver’s digital, uninterrupted life from inside the vehicle.
Enter Mitsubishi Motors North America, Inc. (MMNA). Together, we’re truly defining the next level of connectivity, convenience and safety as Mitsubishi drivers are the first to experience garage control from their in-vehicle, in-dash touchscreen through myQ Connected Garage. myQ Connected Garage is now part of the Mitsubishi Connect platform of innovative services available in the all-new 2022 Mitsubishi Outlander and 2022 Mitsubishi Eclipse Cross vehicles, as well as select 2018 and newer Eclipse Cross vehicles.
Paving the Road with Mitsubishi Motors
Paving the road for seamless connectivity and smart access control for drivers didn’t happen overnight. As we rollout this technology and continue looking to the road ahead, I sat down with Bryan Arnett, Director of Digital Product Strategy, Mitsubishi Motors Research and Development Americas and Cason Grover, Director of Product Planning, Mitsubishi Motors North America. Together, we discussed insights and key learnings about our partnership, the growing consumer desire for connected services, what the future looks like for our industry and more.
Here’s five key takeaways:
1.NEXT LEVEL CONNECTIVITY
The desire among consumers for true connection—to each other and the world—is very much impacting the speed at which manufacturers and suppliers are introducing innovations to market.
Case in point: 72.5 million connected cars will be sold worldwide by 2023*** and 50% of consumers want to open their garage door with an in-vehicle app, ranking higher than roadside assistance and navigation****.
And with the Internet of Things (IoT) becoming more engrained in everyday life, I asked Bryan to share his insights on what is driving new innovations at Mitsubishi Motors and why Chamberlain Group was the right partner to work with to continue pushing forward.
Watch Bryan elaborate on Mitsubishi Motors and Chamberlain Group coming together to redefine in-vehicle, in-dash garage control based on driver’s wants and needs.
2. COLLABORATION IS VITAL FOR SUCCESS—AND INTEGRATION
Equally important to finding innovative solutions for accessing entry points across our everyday parts of life was working with partners that understood the importance of evolving to meet the digital demands of our industry and consumers.
For Mitsubishi Motors to be the first ever automaker to provide vehicle owners in-vehicle garage control, an equally dynamic technology platform was needed that would integrate easily with in-dash API connectivity offerings on Mitsubishi Motors’ rollout models. When Chamberlain Group entered the automotive connectivity landscape, we developed the next frontier in our myQ smart access ecosystem with myQ Connected Garage—the cloud-based software solution that gives drivers new levels of information and control but also is malleable and flexible enough to fit within an OEM’s system architecture via API integration.
This gave Mitsubishi Motors the ability to customize and control each feature within Mitsubishi Connect, their software platform of services that provide vehicle owners with a safe, secure and convenient driving experience.
The road to get here was an interesting one indeed. Tune-in to see Bryan and Cason discuss their experiences in helping Mitsubishi Motors become the first automaker to provide vehicle owners with myQ Connected Garage in-vehicle control as part of Mitsubishi Connect.
3. EXPANDING THE BOUNDARIES OF INTELLIGENCE
Dynamic design, powerful handling and unexpected luxury. That is what the 2022 Mitsubishi Outlander offers. And with the addition of the Mitsubishi Connect platform, the focus on convenience and seamlessness reaches further than what is happening when on the road and behind the wheel.
Watch Cason share more on the all-new 2022 Mitsubishi Outlander and how different the tech inside the vehicle compares to the 2020. We discussed new connected features that are meeting driver’s demands and addressing safety needs while simultaneously pushing the industry forward.
4. SOFTWARE MODIFICATIONS AND HARDWARE STRONGHOLDS
With IoT and the need for more connectivity, there has been a large shift from hardware-centric to software-centric architecture, allowing manufacturers like Mitsubishi Motors to offer state-of-the-art, seamless connectivity, including internet, cloud computing, over-the-air feature updates and more. The end goal is to provide a much richer feature set and drive experience for the consumer, but software-centric modifications also provide automakers opportunities, like:
- The ability to help identify and isolate specific platform improvements during a vehicle’s life cycle, helping to manage upgrades and update rollouts with segmented customer bases when needed.
- A transition to integrating more software across an automaker’s portfolio, which increases scalability across models and brand families.
As Bryan and I cover in our conversation, not everything should transition to software. Whether it’s the radio volume knob, physical seat adjustment or something else, we should always be thinking about the driver’s overall in-vehicle experience and what their preferences are. Watch a few highlights from our Q&A where we talk about the move to touchscreens and cloud-connected software, as well as the importance of some tactile control elements staying put and how this benefits the driver during the “age of change.”
5. WHAT’S NEXT FOR CONNECTIVITY?
Now more than ever, consumers are at-the-ready to shift toward the next big thing. Connected vehicles will be the expectation rather than the exception. But what else should our industry prepare for along with this rise of connectivity and the wave of changes and possibilities this can bring?
I asked Bryan and Cason, as auto-enthusiasts and early tech adopters themselves, to share what they think is on the horizon—from electrification, extreme personalization, autonomous driving and more. Watch the biggest takeaways from Bryan and Cason as I pose the question, “So what’s next?”
Paving the Road with Mitsubishi Motors
The first to offer drivers the ability to open and close their garage door directly from their in-dash touchscreen, Mitsubishi Motors is just the beginning. Working with a growing group of auto manufacturers, integrating smart garage control capabilities in more vehicles is already in motion. Soon, drivers everywhere will have the ability to stay connected to home and know their garage is secure through myQ Connected Garage. The future is here – and it’s bright, connected and convenient.