General Motors is making the controversial decison to phase out its support for Apple’s CarPlay platform. Instead of supporting CarPlay, GM is teaming up with Google to design custom built-in infotainment systems for future electric cars. This comes after GM went all-in CarPlay just a few years ago…
As reported by Reuters, GM’s decision to stop offering CarPlay will begin with the 2024 Chevrolet Blazer. This change, the report explains, will help GM “capture more data on how consumers drive and charge EVs.” The company also wants to develop its own infotainment system based around its driver assistance features like Super Cruise.
GM has been working with Google since 2019 to develop the software that will be used in future electric cars. At launch, the software will offer access to Google Maps and Google Assistant at no extra cost for eight years. Future versions of the software will offer dedicated apps like Spotify and Audible, GM says.
“We have a lot of new driver assistance features coming that are more tightly coupled with navigation,” Mike Himche, executive director of digital cockpit experience, said in an interview. “We don’t want to design these features in a way that are dependent on person having a cellphone.”
“We do believe there are subscription revenue opportunities for us,” Edward Kummer, GM’s chief digital officer, added. The company is targeting $20 billion to $25 billion in annual revenue from subscriptions by 2030.
GM will apparently still offer CarPlay in its gas-powered cars, so this change only applies to EVs starting with the 2024 Chevrolet Blazer.
9to5Mac’s Take
Top comment by James Grotjohn
I think car manufacturers seriously underestimate how important this is to consumers. Telsa has been able to ignore it so far because their supply was limited and they couldn't meet demand anyway. But once they build enough production capacity, they are going to want to sell to people that won't buy a car without CarPlay. I have wireless CarPlay and can say absolutely that I would never buy a car without it.
This is an incredibly lame and sucky decision for a number of different reasons. GM is essentially dropping CarPlay because it wants to find new ways to charge customers a recurring subscription and new ways to collect data on driving habits. It’s a bad decision that I think the company will ultimately regret.
Look at a company like Tesla, for example. Tesla also refuses to adopt Apple’s CarPlay platform, and it’s one of the commonly requested features by Tesla owners. And that’s despite the fact that Tesla has spent years refining its own in-car software experience.
Apple is about to launch a new version of CarPlay sometime later this year that features an all-new design to take over more of a car’s infotainment system, including gauge clusters and other data. I guess we can now add GM to the “no” column on this one.
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