FCA will implement Amazon’s Alexa Custom Assistant technology directly into its vehicles, the first automaker to do so, establishing robust intelligent voice experiences for future FCA products. 

The Alexa Custom Assistant solution is built directly on the Alexa technology stack within FCA’s Uconnect system and can be tailored to each FCA brand personality and customer need with a unique wake word, voice, skills and capabilities, the automaker said.

The technology also introduces the capability of two in-vehicle voice assistants to simultaneously cooperate and fulfill customer requests: the FCA intelligent assistant acts as the product specialist with features and capabilities specific to the vehicle, while Alexa helps the customer with weather, smart home control, music and more, according to FCA. The Alexa Custom Assistant enables this dual-assistant cooperation by using advanced artificial intelligence to determine the customer’s intent and then routing the request to the proper voice assistant for the requested task.

"Our customers expect to easily connect with their digital lifestyles wherever they go and today we responded with plans to offer new intelligent experiences built on Alexa’s world-class voice AI technology,” said Mark Stewart, COO, FCA - North America. “We look forward to the expanding partnership with Amazon and the integration of Alexa Custom Assistant within our powerful Uconnect system, as we continue on our path to put customer needs and expectations at the center of everything we do."

FCA has already begun the planning process for the integration of the Alexa Custom Assistant in future models being developed.

“We are pleased to work with FCA as the first automotive partner to implement Alexa Custom Assistant in its vehicles," said Ned Curic, Vice President, Alexa Automotive. “FCA has made it a priority to offer an intelligent assistant experience their customers will love, and we are excited to collaborate with them to deliver that capability.”