GM ditching Apple CarPlay has dealers concerned
GM ditching Apple CarPlay has dealers concerned
GM is offering a new infotainment system that phases out Apple's popular CarPlay software, leaving some dealers perplexed.
A big gamble by General Motors (GM) is causing consternation for its dealers in the all-important race to sell cars — namely electric vehicles.
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GM thinks they’ll be able to make an in-house software better than CarPlay and Android Auto… I hope I can eat this words and they make it happen, but seeing the whole car industry trying to change their 100+ years way, has been entertaining.
It’s going to be subscription service. And no way can GM beat Apple or Android at a car interface. This just means I’ll never buy another Chevy again.
And no way can GM beat Apple or Android at a car interface.
Poor marketing from GM, Google, and most automakers. A lot of the interfaces are still gonna be Android-based, they're dropping Android Auto not Android Automotive. Android Automotive being the actual OS that most car infotainment displays come with these days, and is made by Google. Android Auto is just the ability to connect your phone and project it to the display.
Still a shit move, but GM has nowhere near the capability to actually build a good infotainment OS from the ground up.
Not entirely. They’re using Android Automotive and just removing CarPlay and Android auto capability.
GM thinks they’ll be able to make an in-house software better than CarPlay and Android Auto…
Not at all. They think they can make something cheaper that customers will suck it up and endure. This is all about not paying licensing fees. People need to vote with their wallets.
I can't speak for the licensing costs of Android Auto or Apple CarPlay, I have no idea what they are.
But I do work in the automotive industry as an engineer. The sentiment is very much that it's about getting customer subscriptions and customer data, to build recurring revenue streams that wouldn't be possible if people are able to just use their phone and its apps on their infotainment display.
GM at least I know is sticking to Android Automotive, which is built by Google and they pay for anyway. Android Auto and Carplay are just additional functionality built on top of Android Automotive (the naming is bad - Android Automotive is the Google Android-based OS for car displays, Android Auto is the projection tech/api), they're quite literally removing existing features on a product they're already paying for.
I highly doubt Google is giving them a huge discount to cut those features, and if they are getting any it's dwarfed by how much they want to make through subscription services to use your car.
Subscription fees are part of this but I think the direct pipeline to the customer data is a bigger factor.
When cars fly