Why Your Car Is Now A Giant Smartphone On Wheels

A Q&A with GM’s Mary Chan.

There was a time when the automotive industry was the pride of America, when consumers eagerly awaited each new model, when Wall Street happily buzzed about each upcoming earnings report. Today, the excitement we once reserved for the car has been transferred to a smaller but increasingly sexy object: the smartphone. It’s Mary Chan’s task to help bring pizzazz back to cars. As president of a new GM division called “Global Connected Consumer,” Chan and her team aim to optimize the relationship between the technology that we navigate through space, and the technology that we navigate through cyberspace. GM was a pioneer in “connected vehicles” when it debuted OnStar 16 years ago. But 2013 could be a banner year for GM’s efforts in this space, as it attempts to marry OnStar with its various infotainment brands (Cadillac’s Cue, Chevy’s MyLink, and Buick’s and GMC’s IntelliLink). Fast Company caught up with Chan to learn more about how she intends to bring some of the allure of Silicon Valley to an industry that traditionally moves slower, despite boasts about going from 0 to 60.