I worked in Infotainment for an Automotive OEM for 7 years. There were two major concepts behind the resistance to CarPlay and Android Auto. The first was branding. Not being able to control the experience that the user, especially because it was so visible of a component in the cab.
The second was (and this is anecdotal, I was not directly involved in the conversations) the way that Apple and especially Google were behaving about data. Google wanted all of the data off the Infotainment system, and a bunch of the data from the car, and they were not willing to share any of that data back with us. They wanted it all for themselves.
Over the years, my company moved because it was a customer demand. My boss when I was hired said that a person would never buy a vehicle because of the infotainment system, but it might push them over the edge.
Yup. I think the thing most people need to see at this point is that almost every car maker will follow GM at this. They would rather the Google deal where they get a cut of the pie and some control rather than the nothing they get with Carplay/AA.
Last summer Apple said 78% of new car buyers want CarPlay. Not “or Android Auto”. CarPlay. (Note: may be US specific, don’t know)
Someone tried to look it up and ask around. And the basic idea is that new cars are more expensive than ever and going up. And that means if you’re buying a new car (as opposed to used) you have more money. And, at least in the US, that correlates highly with iPhone ownership.
If that’s true, that means that dropping CarPlay (even if you kept Android Auto, which GM isn’t) you’d be heavily annoying the vast majority of your buyers. Not 51%, but 78%.
I don’t think you can remove CarPlay and succeed at this point. Consumer demand is too strong. Now add in Android Auto diehards.
The second was (and this is anecdotal, I was not directly involved in the conversations) the way that Apple and especially Google were behaving about data. Google wanted all of the data off the Infotainment system, and a bunch of the data from the car, and they were not willing to share any of that data back with us. They wanted it all for themselves.
Over the years, my company moved because it was a customer demand. My boss when I was hired said that a person would never buy a vehicle because of the infotainment system, but it might push them over the edge.