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Automakers, though large and well-established, haven't put much effort into building the platform on which their cars run.

That's just plain wrong. The movement to create standards that allow for easier interchange of software components (even though mostly at a system integration level) is becoming larger and larger. While it's pretty Linux centric from a software POV, many of the standards and interface worked on can be ported to other important automotive operating systems such as QNX. Of course, GENIVI concerns itself mostlywith infotainment related matters, but necessarily with the more strictly car related plumbing. See http://www.genivi.org/

See: https://www.ohloh.net/orgs/genivi and http://genivi.org/ for details. The current driver for the innovation is BMW but that will broaden as they get buy-in from other parties. There are 11 OEM's with many names you'd recognize and hopefully this (or something like it) will catch fire.

I wouldn't be surprised if Nokia maintains legacy dumbphone support (on Symbian) for a while until the developing nations can be switched to smartphones (or when low end smartphones can run Windows Mobile 7 which should happen in a few years). On the other hand, I think MeeGo on smartphones is cooked since Microsoft is no Amigo (when it comes to linux + Qt). As others have speculated, this is very bad news for the Trolls since they will probably be turned into zombies. I would not be surprised to see Intel buy the Qt division and pursue MeeGo for in vehicle infotainment which is where MeeGo got its first win (via the GenIVI alliance).

This ex-Nokia executive's blog makes for interesting reading.

Car vertical seems to be happening already - GENIVI chose Meego; when looking only at car manufacturers among its members, you have there already BMW, GM, Peugeot Citroen, Hyundai, Mitsubishi, Renault Nissan Samsung, Tata; not bad at all.

If only the source wasn't branched off from the Linux kernel tree. Also, you need to look carefuly at that google skills of yours - MeeGo functions in a very open way. Many things which Nokia does are open (Qt - this one is fun, Symbian nowadays too)...which is a bit beside the point anyway, since they just kickstarted it (with Intel - who has probably more interest in MeeGo; Android will primarily target what's entrenched with it already, ARM; but "mobile Atom" can essentially debut with MeeGo, and it will need fine-tuning whole stack to make that Atom shine on a device so much constrained by its battery; plus Nokia already had phones with x86...)

In related field, MeeGo will be big if only because GENIVI Alliance says it will - not a prediction by some analysts, but by few big automotive companies themselves: GM, PSA Peugeot Citroen, BMW, Hyundai, Mitsubishi, Renault, Nissan, Tata; plus of course Intel and a whole lot of software and hardware companies

And tell me, how a company evidently valuing openess, also with around 36% of the marketshare (more than the next 3, perhaps 4, combined), would be better off partnering with a company paranoid about control and with 2%?

BMW is seriously committed to FOSS as an Infortainment platform in their cars - they are not the only ones. They have set up something called the GenIVI Alliance which is an automotive industry consortium which is working together on this type of software: http://genivi.org/ Many other companies have joined as well, like GM, Nokia, Navteq, Intel, Freescale, Nissan, Monta Vista, Pugeot, and Texas Instruments.