The future is mobile and social, and Toyota is teaming up with Salesforce.com to build a new telematics system around the social networking model. Toyota Friend will facilitate communications between owners and their vehicles, as well as with their dealers and other vehicle owners -- and perhaps their social world at large. Or not.
"Those are all good questions," said Robin Daniels, director of product marketing for Salesforce.com, in response to queries about precisely how the service will work and Salesforce.com's future direction, "but right now we are just in the beginning stages."
Still, the concept the two companies outlined is intriguing, and it follows Ford Motor's announcement earlier this month that it will employ Google Analytics to optimize driving routes for users of its electric vehicles, among other use cases.
In short, it appears the automotive industry and the CRM industry are taking steps to more closely intertwine their respective technologies.
