Ford CEO Jim Farley said Ford has no plans to drop support for CarPlay due to its popularity with Ford customers. made the comment In an interview with The Wall Street JournalIt’s Joanna Stern.
“70 percent of our Ford customers in the US are Apple customers. Why would you go to an Apple customer and say good luck?” he said.
Farley was commenting on car manufacturers that don’t support CarPlay, such as Tesla and General Motors. Tesla has never added CarPlay support to its vehicles, and GM earlier this year announced plans to phase out CarPlay and Android Auto support starting in 2023.
GM’s plans go with a built-in infotainment system co-developed with Google as it transitions from combustion vehicles to electric vehicles. CarPlay will be available on non-electric models, but GM finally has plans to switch to an all-electric lineup by 2035.
iPhone users have been asking Tesla to support CarPlay for years, and unsurprisingly, GM’s announcement hasn’t been particularly popular with those in the Apple ecosystem. By removing control of Apple’s infotainment system, GM and Tesla have access to more data about their customers and can also boost vehicle-related digital subscription services.
Farley doesn’t think money can be made from the content car owners consume in their vehicles, as Ford focuses on safety, security, range and productivity features.
In terms of content, we lost that battle 10 years ago. So be realistic, because you’re not going to make a lot of money from the content inside the vehicle. It will be security, protection, partial autonomy and productivity in our eyes. So that relationship by content is between you, The Wall Street Journal, and the client. I don’t want to get in the middle of that, but Tesla and other companies believe otherwise. They want to have total control over the inner experience.
Having a familiar in-car infotainment and navigation system is appealing to customers who don’t want to have to transition between two incompatible software setups, so GM’s decision to drop support for CarPlay and Android Auto will be daunting. for those who have grown accustomed to the way Apple and Google car solutions extend the smartphone experience into the vehicle. No CarPlay will be a deal breaker for some customers, so it will be interesting to see how GM’s transition affects future vehicle sales.
Starting in 2023, Apple plans to launch a next-generation CarPlay experience that will offer even deeper integration into new vehicles for manufacturers that choose to continue offering CarPlay as an option.