SAIC and Chinese Internet Retailer Alibaba Unveil ‘Internet Car’

Jennifer van der Kleut

Chinese Internet retail giant Alibaba-often called the Amazon of China-has unveiled its first car, which they are calling their “Internet car.”

The car, an RX5 sport utility vehicle, was built by China’s biggest automaker, SAIC, and will run on YunOS software developed by Alibaba.

In addition to being able to connect with other devices, the OS’Car RX5 will offer premium infotainment features such as finding parking spaces and nearby gas stations, and even making restaurant reservations.

What’s more, multiple passengers will be able to log in to their individual Alibaba accounts to access music, shopping and more.

Industry analysts are already calling the OS’Car RX5 a strong contender when it comes to competing with the likes of Google, Apple and Blackberry, who have been working on infotainment systems like Android Auto, Apple Play and QNX, respectively, for years.

“Smart operating systems become the second engine of cars, while data is the new fuel,” Dr. Wang Jian, chairman of Alibaba’s Technology Steering Committee, said in a statement quoted by Alizila.

“It’s moving from the mobile smart phone connectivity to full-car connectivity to the internet,” said Steven Crumb, executive director of Genivi, an open-source infotainment cooperative, to AFR.com. “Even though you’ve got Google and others working on the autonomous vehicle, the way to get the autonomous vehicle is through the connected car. That’s the stepping stone to get where we are today to fully autonomous.”