Localized research and development, the third generation of Honda CONNECT released

China Automotive News Network, March 24th. In 2020, China's auto market will be greatly affected by the epidemic, but Honda Motor has achieved excellent results in China by doubling year-on-year, and has created a new high in China's annual sales. Regardless of its brand or model, Honda has been favored by more and more Chinese consumers, and Honda's own 'technical house' style has gained many loyal fans.

But in the face of the 'new four modernizations' wave in the era of automobile revolution, Honda also needs to respond as soon as possible. 'Automobile Talk' learned that Honda is accelerating the technology upgrade in the field of electrification and ICV (Intelligent Connected Vehicle) in China. As one of the core technologies in the field of intelligence, the in-vehicle interconnection system has become an important platform for the linkage of 'people, cars, and homes.

Recently, Honda China released the third-generation Honda CONNECT (Intelligent Connectivity) system. It is worth mentioning that the new system is very 'local' and fully caters to the needs of Chinese consumers in terms of functions. It not only realizes new functions such as 'AI Intelligent AssistantAccording to understanding, the new system will be applied in the new models of Honda's two joint venture car companies starting from the second half of 2021.

The new system is 'on the road' to the needs of the Chinese people

Nowadays, whether joint ventures or new models of Chinese brands, intelligent networked systems are an important selling point, and Chinese consumers are increasingly demanding in this regard. The key to the intelligent network connection system is the smoothness of interaction with car owners, which directly determines the frequency and recognition of car owners using the system.

The core highlight of the third-generation Honda CONNECT is an AI assistant with powerful natural voice capabilities. During the on-site display of the event, Honda's new system not only has a high degree of natural semantic understanding and realizes a natural and smooth dialogue between people and cars, but can also provide personalized customized services such as free naming according to user preferences.

Another highlight of the third-generation Honda CONNECT is the extension of human-machine communication to a wider range of life scenarios, realizing a seamless connection between mobile and daily life. For example, the system can realize online shopping, ordering food, etc.; sitting at home can know the status of the car at any time, and start the car, turn on the air conditioner and other remote operations; in addition, through the Honda CONNECT APP on the mobile phone, the mobile phone digital key can be authorized to Family and friends.

The charm of the intelligent networked system lies in the continuous 'evolution'. With the development of Smart AI technology and the update of the Internet ecosystem, the system can continuously upgrade and strengthen its functions through cloud services and OTA (Over The Air), and through in-depth learning of user behavior preferences, provide more personalized exclusive Service, truly understand what the car owner thinks, and realize 'a thousand cars and a thousand faces' And become the owner's 'exclusive partner'. This has become a feature of the new generation of intelligent networked systems and is also the core of the third-generation Honda CONNECT upgrade.

The new joint venture company provoked the 'big beam'

With the release of the third-generation Honda CONNECT, Honda’s new joint venture in China has also surfaced. In fact, whether in terms of electrification or intelligent network connection, Honda hopes to deepen and strengthen China's localized research and development, so as to achieve more in line with the needs of Chinese consumers, and it will be easier to introduce smoothly into the products of the two joint venture car companies.

In June 2019, Honda China announced cooperation with outstanding IT companies such as Alibaba AI Lab and iFlytek to jointly develop the third-generation Honda CONNECT. And in June 2020, Honda China and Neusoft Reach Automotive Technology (Shanghai) Co., Ltd. jointly established Haina Xinsi Zhixing Service Co., Ltd. to accelerate the upgrade of intelligent network technology and services based on Honda CONNECT. The third-generation Honda CONNECT released this time is the first result of the establishment of the new joint venture, and it will assume a more important role in research and development in related fields in the future.

According to relevant information, Honda China accounts for 51% of the joint venture company's shares, and this is not the first time the two parties have cooperated. Prior to this, Honda China and Neusoft Rui Chi also established a new company to jointly develop shared travel and charging businesses. Under the leadership of the new company's localized Ru0026D, the actual experience of the third generation Honda CONNECT has indeed been significantly improved compared to the previous two generations. According to understanding, the third-generation Honda CONNECT is currently only for the Chinese market and does not currently support the first-generation and second-generation upgrades.

Starting from the second half of the year, newly launched Honda domestic models will be equipped with new systems one after another. And according to the installation time and model level, there will be some differences in the third-generation Honda CONNECT function, and the new system will also become an important selling point of the new model.

According to the timing of the launch of various models of Honda's new car plan this year, the new generation Civic and the new Accord are likely to become two joint ventures and take the lead in carrying new systems. Honda’s two classic models already have a good reputation among consumers. After the upgrade of intelligent network connection, they are also expected to promote the continued improvement of market performance!