This Is How Toyota And Lexus Will One-Up The Competition

Get inside a 15-year-old luxury car, and the most obvious sign of its age is likely to be the infotainment system. Technology often progresses at a more rapid rate than design, which is why automakers are constantly updating their interfaces. BMW recently rolled out an update for iDrive 7, and Kia announced its advanced Kia Connect system a few days ago. Toyota has now announced that its latest infotainment interface will roll out to all its new models by 2025, according to Automotive News. This also applies to the brand's luxury arm, Lexus. Like the Kia Connect system, Toyota's latest infotainment offering introduces over-the-air updates, allowing for continual improvements or the addition of new features.

Toyota's new offering is a cloud-based system, and some of the features that will be offered in the future are rather impressive. Toyota Connected CEO Zack Hicks said that in the future, customers will have access to remote refueling; in this case, a fuel truck will make its way to wherever the gas-powered car is to fill it up. The car will also be set up with systems to monitor the interior and driver more intensely. For instance, the windows can be rolled down automatically if the cabin gets too hot. A parking garage locator means you'll never again have to go hunting for your car in a crowded parking lot. But while these features sound impressive, Toyota's interface also needs to be easy to use.

The new Lexus Interface infotainment system answers some of the issues we had with the brand's previously fiddly systems. We tried out this system in a test drive of the 2022 NX SUV and found it to be a vast improvement over the older touchpad used by Lexus. The latest Toyota Tundra pickup also packs Toyota's latest infotainment system, upgradeable to a vivid 14-inch touchscreen. In fact, we picked the technology in the new Tundra as one of the top five things we love about Toyota's new full-size truck. Wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, a virtual assistant activated by voice, and cloud-based navigation are some of the clever features offered with the new system. We look forward to these features being offered throughout the Toyota and Lexus lineups.