Electronics may be responsible for about 90 per cent of innovation in automobiles, but they also provide vehicle makers with their biggest challenge – keeping up with innovation in consumer electronics.

The success of Apple’s iPod was one such challenge. Customers were asking how they could connect these tiny digital music players to their cars’ audio systems. “Manufacturers had not foreseen the success of the iPod or of MP3 players in general,” says Willem Bulthuis, vice-president, automotive, for NXP Semiconductors, formerly Philips’ Semiconductors.