BMW continues to be the car with the most technology features, and that's not even counting iDrive. Rolls-Royce, Cadillac, Infiniti, and Hummer round out the top five in the annual Technology Index compiled by Telematics Research Group. TRG checks for 32 technology features across six categories: telematics, phone, head unit, audio, radio, video, and driver assist features. BMWs have more of the features than any other automaker even though the cockpit control knob feature BMW pioneered (with iDrive) isn't measured, but LCD touchscreens are.

You'd probably think of the Germans or Japanese as being the high scorers if high technology means cool stuff in the cockpit. Not so. It's Sweden and the U.K., although Sweden is just the combination of eighth-place Saab and 14th-place Volvo (who both racked up points on safety technology); the British comprise three beyond-expensive brands (No. 2 Rolls-Royce, No. 12 Bentley, and No. 24 Aston-Martin), two merely expensive brands (No. 13 Jaguar and No. 18 Land-Rover), plus No. 10 Mini. The Swedes managed an average score (calculated by us, not TRG) of 75 to 74 for the British cars. The German car average was 70, the U.S. 62, Japan 50, and Korea 27. Perhaps Samsung and LG should talk more with Hyundai and Kia.

Among American automakers, GM is clearly ahead on technology with three brands in the top 10 and five in the top 15. The top Chrysler brand is the Chrysler nameplate at No. 19; the top Ford brand is Lincoln at No. 23. Do note that TRG, a Minneapolis-based group of consultants and analysts, checks for the existence of a feature, not how good it is. Thus, Ford's super Sync music system gets checklist points for Bluetooth, iPod connector, and voice recognition, but no bonus points for being the wave of the future.

The most common tech features on the Technology Index are CD players, offered standard or optional on all of the 263 models studied, MP3/WMA support on 90% of models (meaning 10% still don't have a clue about this MP3 thing), 87% have a line-in jack, 75% offer branded audio (TRG's term encompassing premium audio), and 73% offer DVD players (instead of CD) and onboard navigation systems. An iPod interface is offered on 37% of models and Bluetooth is offered on 55% of models.

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety recently released a list of the top five safety features for cars. They are forward collision warning with automatic braking, emergency brake assistance, lane departure warning, blind spot detection, and adaptive (steerable) headlights. The TRG index covers 2-1/2 of them: LCD, BSD, and adaptive cruise control, which forms the underpinnings of collision warning and automatic braking.

The list below comprises the 2008 Telematics Research Group index for 2008 and 2007. Some brands aren't rated.

2008 TELEMATICS RESEARCH GROUP TECHNOLOOGY INDEX
Rank, brand, score (2007 rank, 2007 score)
1. BMW, 100.0 points (1st in 2007, 100.0 points)
2. Rolls-Royce, 98.9 (not rated)
3. Cadillac, 96.43 (2, 97.62)
4. Infiniti, 90 (6, 80)
5. Hummer, 86.54 (7, 78.57)
6. Buick, 84.07 (11, 71.43)
7. Mercedes-Benz, 84.07 (5, 80.95)
8. Saab, 79.12 (10, 76.19)
9. Lexus, 78.5 (4, 84.52)
10. Mini, 74.18 (9, 76.19)
11. Chevrolet, 73.47 (22, 47.62)
12. Bentley, 72.94 (NR)
13. Jaguar, 71.7 (3, 85.71)
14. Volvo, 71.43 (28, 41.27)
15. GMC, 70.06 (not rated)
16. Acura, 69.23 (13, 67.62)
17. Audi, 68.61 (26, 42.86)
18. Land Rover, 67.99 (18, 57.14)
19. Chrysler, 65.7 (12, 71.43)
20. Jeep, 64.29 (8, 78.57)
21. Saturn, 64.29 (not rated)
22. Pontiac, 62.87 (14, 66.67)
23. Lincoln, 61.81 (17, 59.52)
24. Aston Martin, 59.34 (NR)
25. Dodge, 58.1 (15, 63.81)
26. Porsche, 54.4 (29, 38.1)
27. Maserati, 51.92 (27, 42.86)
28. Nissan, 51.35 (21, 53.97)
29. Toyota, 49.12 (25, 44.05)
30. Ford, 47.8 (24, 44.76)
31. Mercury, 47.47 (23, 45.71)
32. Mitsubishi, 45.49 (16, 61.9)
33. Subaru, 44.51 (20, 54.76)
34. Honda, 43.41 (NR)
35. Volkswagen, 42.03 (36, 14.29)
36. Mazda, 40.66 (33, 38.1)
37. Hyundai, 37.91 (32, 23.81)
38. Scion, 29.67 (30, 33.33)
39. Tesla, 29.67 (31, 28.57)
40. Suzuki, 26.7 (35, 19.05)
41. Smart, 19.78 (34, 19.05)
42. Kia, 16.69 (33, 19.05)
43. Isuzu, 14.84 (not rated)
Source: Telematics Research Group. Top-scoring brand is rated 100 and others are indexed relative to the top brnad.

TRG TECHNOLOGY INDEX CRITERIA
These criteria count toward the index score.

MONITORING: Remote Diagnostics, News/Weather/Sports, Traffic/POI/Offboard Navi.

DRIVER ASSIST: Camera Park Assist, Ultrasonic Park Assist, Night Vision, Adaptive Cruise Control, HUD (head up display), Lane Departure Warning, Blind Spot Detection

PHONE: Bluetooth, Dock/Cable, Embedded

HEAD UNIT: CD, Hard Disk Drive, Inst. Cluster Display, Touchscreen, Voice Recognition, Onboard Navi

AUDIO: Branded Audio, MP3 / WMA Support, iPod Interface, Auxilliary Input, Flash Memory Slot

RADIO: XM Satellite, Sirius Satellite, DAB (digital audio broadcast)or HD Radio

VIDEO: Rear Video, Front Video, Broadcast Video (TV, DMB, DVB)