You said Ferrari, you said huge petrol engines, a tradition of racing cars and a blurry red blob moving fast on the road with an unmistakable sound.
So now add a little Israeli pride to all this.
Because Ferrari, like every car manufacturer, looks ahead and prepares for a future where among the many challenges faced by car manufacturers are also those that include the communication between the manufacturer and the customer and his car.
Sometimes for support of remote software updates (OTA) which are becoming more and more common, but no less interesting than that, the new possibilities that open up when our car will become more and more free of mechanical treatments and the manufacturer's source of income will come not from your arrival at the garage, but by clicking on the screen.
Visual and behind-the-scenes technology (Photo: HARMAN)
We have already seen and heard about the first manufacturers that allow their customers to purchase upgrades, modifications, systems and features during the ownership of the car.
Tesla, BMW and Mercedes are the prominent names in the field, with the latter expanding and offering not only heated seats, but also a performance upgrade that increases the car's power.
But in Ferrari and HARMAN look deeper ahead and understand that this is a significant revenue channel and as such, especially in a brand like Ferrari must be based on a very well-established software infrastructure.
Harman's systems will actually be responsible for the interface and communication between the manufacturer and the customer to carry out these updates.
We will only see the results of this collaboration for at least 4 years to come (photo: manufacturer website, manufacturer)
"Ferrari is a well-known and luxurious brand, but not one that produces a lot of cars," Michal Geva, CEO of Herman Israel, told Walla!Car, "but the association with it is more significant image-wise than financial."
What was it like to work with the Italians at the manufacturer? Which is much more associated with engines than with multimedia and software?
"The Italians are like us, very verbal and warm.
This is definitely not the polite and purposeful Japanese or German customer.
They think far ahead about being able to adapt each driver to a different user experience.
They want maximum performance, not only from the car, but also from the technology in it."
This is not your first collaboration with Ferrari, why did the announcement come only now?
"True, we worked with them on parts and focused things, but this is the first time that it is a complete technological complex."
By this, Geva means not only the same user experience that will enter the manufacturer's sports cars, but also the entrance to the Holy of Holies and the eye of the manufacturer - the Ferrari Formula 1 team.
And while the assimilation of the technology in passenger cars will be seen in a time frame of no less than 4 years, certain applications of it will be tested already in the upcoming Formula 1 season.
Michal Geva, CEO of HARMAN (Photo: Samdar Kafri)
The communication services between the car and the manufacturers, which as mentioned will become more and more widely used in the coming years, keeps Harman busy not only in the current deal with Ferrari.
It has already signed contracts with many car manufacturers in the industry as a whole and in the time span of the next ten years more than 500 million cars will use its remote update systems.
The expectation is that as cars become more connected, and manufacturers sharpen their competition not only to the usual rounds of introducing new cars, but also in a new type of user experience, the one that continuously upgrades our cars during the ownership period, the share of companies like Harman will become significant More in a whole that might still be called a "car" in the future.
Harman is not the only Israeli supplier of the Italian supercar manufacturer, which will start producing its first crossover, the Forsang, this year.
Ferrari is also a client of Simotiv Technologies, the cyber defense company founded by Yuval Diskin, former head of the service who serves as chairman, Tzafir Katz, former head of the technology division in the service who serves as CEO, and Dr. Tamid Bekor, former head of the computing department in the service. In fact, the capabilities of Saimotiv will complement Harman's technologies, to ensure that hackers cannot use the new information transfer channel to take control of Ferrari vehicles remotely, or steal information from them.
The three have been partners for about a decade in the cyber protection company they founded together with the Volkswagen concern, which relies on Israeli capabilities in the field, and at the same time provides Services also for other manufacturers.
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