You can soon buy gas and pizza through Fiat Chrysler's Uconnect system
This connectivity should start arriving in certain vehicles later this year.
General Motors has dominated its American counterparts when it comes to offering in-car commerce. Its MyLink infotainment system has been adding various integrations over the last couple years, whether it's placing reservations through Yelp or ordering a Domino's pizza on the fly. Fiat Chrysler's latest announcement along similar lines should help it keep up with the Joneses.
Fiat Chrysler Automobiles announced on Monday that the next iteration of its Uconnect infotainment system will include something called Uconnect Market. This commerce platform is similar to GM's Marketplace, in that it will allow a variety of third-party companies to offer connected buying services directly through the infotainment system. It was developed in partnership with Xevo, which has lent its expertise to GM, as well.
When setting up a Uconnect Market account, owners will have the opportunity to add a credit card for use within the marketplace. That can then be used to authorize card-free fuel fill-ups at participating Shell stations, in addition to paying for parking through integration of the ParkWhiz service. People will also be able to book service appointments and check out offers on various services, and they can also book restaurant reservations through Yelp.
This builds on news from earlier in the year. In April, FCA announced that it would rely on tech from Harman and Google for its upcoming connected-car services, which will allow for over-the-air updates and, when its EVs start rolling out, additional services catered to electric cars. It can also work with usage-based insurance and even peer-to-peer car sharing, so the sky's the limit.
Uconnect Market is expected to make its way to owners via over-the-air update in the second half of 2019. It will work with 2019 and 2020 model-year vehicles from Chrysler, Dodge , Jeep and Ram, so long as those vehicles pack both the connectivity itself and Uconnect's 8.4-inch touchscreen.
