Pues va a ser verdad que hoy en día la gente se compra los coches por la electrónica, antes que por la mecánica

Copio y pego un artículo reciente. Ojo al dato: El Lexus lleva de serie equipo Mark Levinson. Yo me parto

In-car electronics
Strap in and boot up
Aug 24th 2006
From The Economist print edition
Cars are now sold on their electronics, not just their mechanics

HORSEPOWER is nice, but processing power is better. That seems to be the motto of the modern car, which is becoming as much an electronic system as a mechanical one. Computer chips already regulate machinery, from the engine to the brakes to the suspension. Companies that used to tout a car's ability to go from zero to 60 in a hurry are now just as likely to trumpet its mastery of zeroes and ones.

In some cars, such as the Mercedes-Benz S-Class or the BMW 7-Series, electronics already account for some $10,000-20,000 of the price. The most rapid growth is in the area of information and entertainment systems, sales of which will increase by 10% a year over the next decade, according to Roland Berger, a consultancy.

A well equipped car in America, for example, now comes with a satellite-radio receiver and a CD player, as well as an ordinary radio. Many carmakers then offer pricey upgrades, such as a Bose sound system. Lexus has an exclusive deal with Mark Levinson, a maker of expensive audio equipment. New cars often include navigation systems, some with real-time traffic updates so that drivers can avoid jams. In the back seat, meanwhile, children can watch videos, if their parents opt for a built-in DVD player. Many cars sport Bluetooth systems that link to drivers' mobile phones.

This has caused a proliferation of knobs and buttons, many of them on an increasingly cluttered steering wheel. Anyone hoping to test-drive a new car must first endure a training session to master the dashboard; the days when all a buyer needed was a stretch of open road are gone. The multimedia overload is a headache for carmakers, too. BMW's iDrive, an electronic-dashboard system, was meant to simplify things for drivers, but irritated them instead. And Jürgen Hubbert, a former branding boss at Mercedes, says electronics accounted for more of the firm's warranty claims than anything else for many years.

Roland Berger's research found that Japanese firms—which are also keen on electronics, but value simplicity too—have done a better job of pleasing customers. Carmakers should take heed. Electronics can make cars more fun. But when drivers leave their desks and slip behind the wheel, they expect to be done with technical support for the day.