It's a tough call for businesses, especially ones that are in such a fickle environment as cars. If businesses don't let people know they're at least working on a solution, customers will completely ignore them and some other company will steal their thunder (and profit). If businesses announce they're working on a solution but take a long time in achieving it, customers get cranky, call foul or vaporware, and the business loses customers/profit. It's a fine line, and I don't envy them having to ride it...
That said, if you're going to announce a solution is being worked on, it is generally in your best interest to give people a 10,000 foot view of the schedule and any major roadblocks you're hitting. If the product is in active development (not a sideline), you should be able to say if you're 1 month, 3 months, 6 months out from a boxed solution. I can understand being vague on pricing, but that should be announced with a +/-10% window within the last month of development... at that point, you know what all of the parts/labor cost, you're simply fine tuning.
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