According to this New York Times article Microsoft and Siemens are developing in-car entertainment and navigation products that make it easier for users to integrate mobiles and mp3 players with their car's interface.
According to research group iSuppli, the automotive infotainment market is "set to grow to about $54 billion by 2012 from $38 billion currently."
The Siemens product in the works, Siemens VDO, works on the Microsoft Auto platform. The VDO makes driver-assistance and saftey systems, as well as navigation functions.
Car companies feel the need to keep up with newly emerging mobile technology. Although the advances are astounding (like the Lexus that can park itself), all of these new distractions may not live up to their expectations (I mean, look at Windows Vista). Hopefully Microsoft's Auto platform is more reliable and less likely to crash.
