Citroen debuted its new on-board AI-driven digital assistant ‘Cara’ with the new Citroen Basalt X, and the company says it is India’s first fully conversational on-board automobile assistant.
- Cara understands 52 languages, including regional Indian ones
- Serves as on-board digital assistant; offers AI and web services too
The system isn’t just for India but for all of Stellantis’ global brands and markets. “If any of our brands across the world want to use Cara on their vehicles, it’s already ready to be configured for that,” said Shailesh Hazela CEO and managing director of Stellantis India.
Interestingly, the AI-driven assistant has been developed entirely in India at Stellantis’ Bengaluru technology hub, which is currently developing AI and machine learning technologies for global Stellantis products.
Having been developed in India, Cara supports regional Indian languages and global ones – 52 in total, says Citroen, with more to be added. Customers can also rename the digital assistant on their cars.
How Cara differs from other digital assistants
Today, most cars offer on-board digital assistants and there are many AI driven phone-based ones too. Where Cara differentiates itself is that it is an amalgamation of the two. Cara can not only handle voice commands to open a window or check the car's fuel level but also check if your flight is on time, what time should you leave for the airport and if you have enough fuel for the journey as it's integrated with AI and web services.
Cara then checks the car’s systems for fuel level, gets the location from your phone, checks traffic and your flight status to plan your journey. It did work well in our brief time with it at the launch, getting both the context and the info right.
Hazela also added that if you speak to it in an angry tone, it can understand you are upset and will respond accordingly to soothe you. Cara is currently available on the new Basalt, but it will soon find its way across Citroen's India portfolio.
Hormazd Sorabjee
Sahil Kukreja
