GM introduced its Ultifi software platform as a customer experience program that combines the purchase, onboarding and ownership experience in November 2020. Last September, GM formally announced plans for an evolved version of Ultifi, now characterized as an in-vehicle customer experience platform, to make its vehicles smarter and more personalized.
Ultifi will be the underlying software that enables applications from GM and third-party developers, Gary Cygan, director of GM’s software-defined vehicle program and solution management, told Automotive News.
It can support quick updates and additions of safety, entertainment and convenience features that often are held until a vehicle’s midcycle freshening.
The Cadillac Lyriq, an electric crossover due early this year, will be among the first vehicles with Ultifi, but the software will be added to others via over-the-air updates.
Examples of possible Ultifi-backed features include a weather mode that automatically closes a parked vehicle’s windows before rain, automatic child locks when the vehicle senses a child in the back seat and an Amber Alert setting that automatically reports the sighting of a license plate number for which police are searching.
“To do that in a non-Ultifi environment would take a long time. With the platform, it’s very, very fast,” Cygan said. “We’re really focused on making the platform developer-friendly [for] everyone who wants to come and build on it because it’s so easy to do.”
