This is Panasonic's Android Auto head unit, coming to a car near you

Panasonic, a member of the Open Automotive Alliance, brought their incoming Android Auto powered head unit with them to CES 2015. This head unit is not a unit that consumers can buy and install themselves in their personal vehicles but it is one that will be coming soon to several different car OEMs.

We don't know much about the device in terms of specs, but we do know that it will be running Panasonic's custom software to handle all of the general car functions with support for both Android Auto and Apple CarPlay for everything else. From the quick minute we had to play with this Android Auto implementation I can say that it was very clean, simple, and easy to use. There are a variety of media applications on the system but we only got to play with Google Play Music.

Not much has changed since we first saw the platform running on cars at Google I/O 2014, and right now that's okay — we just want to start seeing these in cars you can actually buy.

Volkswagen bringing Android Auto to its cars later this year

Volkswagen made a range of announcements at CES 2015 today, but one of the most interesting is a small mention that Android Auto will be coming to Volkswagen cars as part of the company's second-generation "modular infotainment platform" (MIB II) sometime in 2015.

From Volkswagen:

Later this year, VW will introduce the second generation "modular infotainment platform" (MIB II) in the United States. Along with the new infotainment system, MirrorLink™ will also be made available for the first time, integrating the apps and operating layout of numerous smartphones (including Samsung, HTC, LG and Sony) into cars. When MirrorLink™ is introduced, two other interfaces will also be launched under the App-Connect label: CarPlay™ (Apple®) and Android Auto™ (Google®). Simultaneously, VW will also launch CarPlay™ and Android Auto™ in the European market.

Mum's the word on exactly when we can expect Volkswagen's new lineup to debut with Android Auto this year, but this is a great sign for the budding platform nonetheless.

Source: Volkswagen