Vusi Machie of Volvo Cars South Africa on the tech quietly taking over the driver’s seat
Katlego Sekhu
Vusi Machie, Product and Pricing Manager at Volvo Cars South Africa, joined DJ Fresh and Thato Mataboge on Stuff About Stuff, a Thursday feature on Kaya Breakfast, to talk about the technology quietly transforming how South Africans drive.
The conversation moved through some of the most significant shifts happening in the motoring industry right now, from AI systems that watch the road on a driver’s behalf to cars that update overnight like a smartphone.
The car as co-pilot
Machie opened by reframing what AI in a modern car actually means. It is not the fully self-driving future imagined in old films, he explained, but something more immediate and useful.
“AI is actually your silent, highly attentive co-pilot,” said Machie. He pointed to the Driver Understanding System in Volvo’s flagship EX90, a fully electric seven-seater SUV, which uses capacitive sensors and infrared cameras to monitor a driver’s gaze and behaviour. If the system detects distraction, micro-sleeping or a possible medical emergency, it does not simply sound an alarm. It nudges the driver, and if there is no response, it can steer the car to safety and activate hazard lights.
The same sensing technology extends to occupants. Volvo’s Occupant Sensing system can detect sub-millimetre movement in the cabin, from a sleeping baby to a forgotten pet, and alert the driver accordingly.
Asked how much control AI actually takes from the driver, particularly in high-pressure South African driving conditions, Machie was clear on where the line sits. “You are still the driver, you are still the main pilot,” he said. The car gives the driver time to react before stepping in, and will only take over, up to bringing the vehicle to a standstill, if a response does not come in time.
Software as important as the engine
The conversation turned to what Machie called the software-defined vehicle, and whether an always-updating car could ever work against its owner. “It will not turn against you,” he said.
He addressed a common frustration directly: updates that lock drivers out of their cars mid-task. Volvo owners can choose to install updates overnight, minimising the risk of being caught out, and daytime updates are flagged in advance with a 90-minute window. Updates are delivered over the air at no extra cost, and once installed, they belong to the owner for good.
For anyone weighing up a new car purchase, Machie’s advice was to treat software as seriously as hardware. “Software is just as important as the hardware itself,” he said, describing the pairing of the two as a marriage that determines what a vehicle can ultimately deliver.
Buttons, voice and the case for fewer distractions
Responding to a listener complaint that cars increasingly resemble televisions, stripped of buttons, Machie said Volvo aims to strike a balance. With Google Gemini now the standard AI model across Volvo Cars, many functions once reliant on physical buttons, from adjusting audio volume to operating windows, can be handled by voice instead.
The safety logic behind this, he explained, is simple: reaching for a button means taking your eyes off the road. Voice activation removes that trade-off. “It’s actually a plus for safety as well,” said Machie.
Data, privacy and trust
With a car constantly tracking location, speed, routes and routine, Thato raised the question of privacy directly, asking whether a Volvo could effectively snitch on its owner. Machie outlined three principles underpinning Volvo’s approach to data.
Footage from driver monitoring cameras is processed locally inside the car and wiped after every drive cycle, rather than stored in the cloud. Data that does need to reach the cloud, such as real-time hazard alerts, is stripped of identifying details before it is sent. And through the Volvo Cars app, owners have direct control over what data they choose to share.
“Protecting personal information is actually just as important as wearing a seatbelt in a Volvo,” said Machie.
Catch Stuff About Stuff every Thursday on Kaya Breakfast with DJ Fresh and Thato, weekdays from 6am, only on Kaya 959.
Missed it live? Listen to the podcast.
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