It’s so hard to be an automaker today. Especially an American automaker. There’s a big union fight coming up, automotive financing is getting tough, and China is making it difficult to export key materials. So what’s GM gonna do? Pick a fight with Apple. What? We’ve written about this before, but… what?!? Why?
My head is so confused right now. I’m just so amazed at the audacity of this. Let’s just get right into it.
GM’s CarPlay Move Is So, So, So, So Sketch
Apple CarPlay and Android Auto easily solved a problem that automakers themselves, after much effort, had not solved. It allowed anyone to connect their phone to a car and suddenly access the features they wanted, using a UI they were familiar with, in a fairly seamless way. While early iterations were not perfect, we’ve all become used to it and it has improved in small but meaningful ways.
Now, General Motors is trying to throw this out for its EVs in favor of a self-developed interface (its gas-powered cars will still have CarPlay, for now). The audacity is striking. It’s like me one day deciding to throw out my refrigerator because I’m gonna make better ice. I’m gonna dig a hole in the ground in winter, fill it up with water and sawdust, and come back a few months later and shave off the tastiest damn frozen liquid you ever deigned to drop in an Arnold Palmer.
Or not. The ice maker works fine!
The headline for one of our first stories on this was “GM Getting Rid Of Apple CarPlay And Android Auto Is Such A Ridiculous Risk, I Don’t Think They’ll Actually Do It” and Jason opined:
Apple CarPlay and Android Auto are incredibly popular, with a vast number of car buyers demanding the systems as a prerequisite to even consider a new car. This seems, to me, like a stellar act of not just stepping, but actually stomping, with golf shoes, on one’s own metaphorical dong that I feel confident in predicting that even GM will, at some point in the near future, walk this back. I mean, I hope they do. Or that they prove me wrong about this being a bad idea and I have to eat my own socks.
Well. Get out your golfing shoes because it’s happening and dealers are not super excited about it. From a Detroit Free Press article we get some interesting nuggets from a GM dealer source:
“I don’t even know the name of (GM’s) new system, much less what benefits our customers can expect,” the dealer source said. “Nobody has had any communication from GM. What am I supposed to tell my customers?”
CarPlay is available in basically every new vehicle and it’s now the de facto car operating system. It sometimes doesn’t play well with redundant, in-car systems, but mostly around using features like Sirius XM. Guess what? Apple, which is great at UI, is planning to fix a lot of those issues in its next CarPlay rollout.
What’s GM doing? From the piece above:
People familiar with GM’s system say it will use a Bluetooth connection to provide the same access to phone calls, text messages and audio as CarPlay and Android Auto. It also allows drivers to access built-in features, like SiriusXM and the automaker’s navigation system without having to switch from CarPlay to another display, as is necessary in many vehicles.
However, the GM system will be unable to reach into your iPhone’s contacts list for commands like, “Directions to Carole’s house.”
GM responds that all its owners will have to do is create a contacts list in their Google account.
WHAT?!? I hope you’re all getting ready to walk your uncle through setting up a contacts list in his Google account. I can’t wait for the average Chevy dealer to deliver that line.
This seems so much like GM’s classic bad-timing (i.e. it finally has an EV hit with the Bolt just in time to stop making the Bolt) that it’s almost parody. It’s solving a problem that, it seems, is basically about to be solved.
I have a theory for why this is happening. Carmakers are still committed to the idea of consumers subscribing for car services even if consumers hate the idea. As cars become increasingly digital, those subscription services will be integrated into the infotainment. If someone else controls that infotainment it’s going to get much, much harder to do that.
If this is what’s happening, then this is beancounter-first thinking (another historically GM-trait) and a phenomenally huge risk given that the company is about to launch a bunch of new products into a crowded marketplace and need to start clawing sales back from Tesla (which, famously, also does not have CarPlay). I’m excited about the 2024 Chevy Equinox EV. It has the possibility of being a great product.
Could this kill GM’s EV momentum? I have no idea. I just know the risk is out-of-this-world high. Maybe it’ll pay off!
[Editor’s Note: I, for one, am hoping GM can pull something out of its hat. The company is filled with tens of thousands of immensely capable engineers and product planners, after all. -DT].
The UAW Is Not Playing
You know the cliché about reality TV participants saying “I’m not here to make friends” over-and-over again? Look at the video above. Honestly, if you are not aware of this meme you probably live a fuller, richer life than I do (“This is Flavor of Love, not Flavor of Friendship” is al all-timer, though).
Guess who else isn’t here to make friends? New United Auto Workers President Shawn Fein, whose name does sorta sound like the formerly militant Irish political group in a way I think is almost a little too on-the-noise.
There’s a longstanding tradition of United Auto Workers Presidents shaking hands with automaker CEOs at the beginning of negotiations. But there’s also a tradition of UAW leaders being extremely corrupt and making deals with automakers that weren’t always to the benefit of workers on the line, which is why union members, somewhat historically, sacked the traditional leadership.
I appreciate this story from The Detroit News, which gets right to the point:
Gestures at previous handshake events — particularly a hug between convicted former UAW President Dennis Williams and Sergio Marchionne, the late former CEO of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV before it merged to create Stellantis — have become symbols of the years-long corruption scandal that entailed FCA executives bribing officials of the Detroit-based union.
So, no handshakes. It sounds petty, sort of, but it’s symbolic.
“The members come first,” Fain said in a statement. “I’ll shake hands with the CEOs when they come to the table with a deal that reflects the needs of the workers who make this industry run. When the 150,000 autoworkers at Ford, GM, and Stellantis receive the respect they are due for their sacrifice in generating the historic profits of the past decade, then we can proceed with a handshake.”
‘This is Flavor of Love, not Flavor of Friendship,” indeed.
So, yeah, GM is opening up an invasion on its eastern flank while still figuring out how to deal with battles out west. Moscow by October!
[Editor’s Note: For the record, we are very much here to make friends. – JT]
China Wants To Limit Gallium Exports
Xi Jinping's latest speech emphasizes: 1. Speaking Chinese, 2. Eating Chinese food, 3. Wearing Chinese clothing, 4. Using Chinese products, 5. Traveling in China, 6. Celebrating Chinese festivals, 7. Buying Chinese goods, 8. Having a Chinese mindset (1 of 2) https://t.co/KVOsSZzEUh
— John 'legacy blue check' Voelcker (@johnvoelcker) July 11, 2023
China has decided, somewhat predictably, to de-Westernize. The country has learned enough from Western automakers, Western brands, et cetera, and it’s ready to go out on its own, thank you very much.
Learning about electric cars is just realizing, over-and-over again, that the material necessities of batteries, controllers, and motors are different than the material necessities of gas-powered vehicles, and most of the materials that are needed are made, found, and processed in China.
Today’s thing you maybe didn’t know about and now need to be an expert on? Gallium. Specifically, gallium nitride, which is a light, cheap-to-produce, and super conductive metal that makes on-board car chargers work way, way better.
Guess who makes a bunch of it? China. Guess who doesn’t make a bunch of it? Basically everyone else. Guess what China did? Yup, it decided to limit the export of gallium nitride.
The auto industry is only now recovering from a pandemic-fueled global semiconductor shortage that forced automakers to halt production of some models and in some cases to leave unfinished vehicles standing waiting for a single chip.
Alastair Neill, a director at the Critical Minerals Institute, said that automakers who are in the early stages of designing their next generation of EVs could opt for silicon carbide, even though gallium nitride performs about 30% better, rather than risk a fresh supply chain headache.
“If you are already banking on gallium nitride and designing it into your platform, then you’re in trouble,” he said.
Another front for GM, fantastic!
Used Car Wholesale Prices Are Down, But New Car Dealers Have Fresh Ammo
Used car prices, as measured by Cox Automotive’s Manheim Used Vehicle Value Index (different Mannheim), should start going down. Here’s how Automotive News describes what’s happening:
The Manheim index was 10.3 percent lower last month compared with the same month in 2022, according to Cox. The company also reported nonadjusted figures for the Manheim index — down 3.8 percent in June from May and down 10.1 percent year over year.
The 4.2 percent decline is “among the largest declines in [Manheim index] history” and the largest since the intensification of the COVID-19 pandemic in April 2020, when the index “plunged 11.4 percent,” said Chris Frey, senior manager of economic and industry insights for Cox Automotive.
While most analysts doesn’t seem to think these declines will continue forever (there are not enough cars coming off-lease, for instance), it’s still kinda good news. Will this mean a ton of people flocking to used cars again? Not quite.
Used cars, like new cars, are still financed by a large number of people. The average interest rate for a used auto loan in June for a person with 781+ credit score was 6.79%. That’s pretty high. For a new vehicle it was 5.18%. As CarDealershipGuy pointed out in his newsletter “Some manufacturers are offering special financing for new cars, with low rates that are unattainable for used cars.”
If you can get a 4% APR on a 60-month term for a $50,000 new car with $10,000 down, that’s a $730 monthly payment. Compare that to a CPO car at $43,000 with $10,000 down and a 7% rate and it’s a $650 a month payment. Would you pay $80 more a month for a new car? Maybe!
The Big Question
Is it possible GM pulls this off? Give me odds? 1/100? 1/1000? 1/10?
I think that as long as they aren’t trying to pull some insidious plot to trap car buyers in a subscription, they’ll do ok with it. My infotainment thing in the Civic works well enough for audio output and even reads text messages to me, so I usually don’t bother with Android Auto/Carplay. It makes a lot of sense for the OEMs to want it designed more in house, because then they know what to expect and are better able to design the car’s hardware and other connected systems around it.
All that said, if they try to paywall basic features, torch em.
“What am I supposed to tell my customers?” Oh y’know, just the same old bullshit. Say “it used to be known as Apple Car play, but they renamed it”. That’s about par for the course for a car sales reptile. But immediately move onto how infrequently an EV needs oil changes and never needs the radiator filled, ever. Remember: they only buy a car once in a blue moon, but you do this every day, you got this, you can lie day in, day out, to your customers, your boss, your wife, your mistress, God (if it existed), the air, yourself in the mirror, you’re not fat like Jerry said, and your hairline isn’t receding, you’re quite handsome really, and you can put off that doctor’s visit another month …
I’m actually surprised by all the people insisting CarPlay doesn’t matter to “normal” folks. I know a dude who did an infotainment update that required his car to be idling for an hour just for the chance of getting CarPlay – and he’s not a car guy, just a dude.
To be fair, I’ve not used either CarPlay or Android Auto successfully. Bluetooth phone stuff is annoying because I ignore 99% of phone calls, so I unpair my phone from cars for the most part. A central map is the only feature I feel like I’m missing, to be honest.
Well the good thing of having a Google Account, everything is connected. As soon you login into your infotainment screen, your search and locations in Google Maps will be sync to your phone and car. Same with youtube music, etc. The bad thing, you will have to pay for that internet service and probably will not be cheap, they will use OnStar for this. Polestar allows you to use your phone as hotspot to share internet
Yeah I already have cell service on my, uh, cellphone. I don’t need my car to have cell service, thanks. And if I wanted it? Show me the SIM slot. I’ll add it to my plan.
I need less Google in my life, not more. I’ll begrudgingly use a Google login for YouTube, but like hell am I going to tell them where I am, where I’m going, and where they can spam me with ads.
Look, they are just there to help you not be evil. /s
The bad thing, you will have to pay for that internet service and probably will not be cheap, they will use OnStar for this. Polestar allows you to use your phone as hotspot to share internet
???
AFAIK a phone’s hotspot ability is solely a function of the phone and its carrier. The car should simply get access to the phone’s data via WiFi or USB. At least that’s how I do it in my 13 yo car with a $150 aftermarket touchscreen and 7 yo cellphone with Mint.
I hope GM fails on their new infotainment just as a heaven’s punishment for pushing for subscriptions
The Elephant Standing Locally Around is a certain car make doesn’t offer Carplay either, and they’re doing fine, so there is precedence. Also tech moves so fast the car(even a GM) may outlast the compatibility of Carplay, heck it may still be under warranty when Apple does some feature update that makes new phones not work with systems a couple years old, then what do they do? OTA updates and hope their cellular service also didn’t get decommissioned?
Matt, you alluded to a reason GM might be doing this:
I would take this a step further and argue that this is the reason that manufacturers were so bad at creating an infotainment system that worked well for everyone, and created the opening for Apple and Google to come in and capture the consumers’ desire from all the auto manufacturers.
The car manufacturer is developing a system to generate the most revenue for themselves. Before it was cornering customers into packages that included navigation if they wanted the upgraded audio systems and the like. Now they want the data from all our activity so they can sell add–on services, or package us up to advertisers. That would make sense as they seem to want to get into bed with Google so much.
Apple (and Google with AA) isn’t hampered by that secondary goal and can just make a good interface. As soon as you compromise the interface to get more out of the customer you’ve already lost in the ability to create the best system for the primary purpose.
GM will create a system that has a primary goal of generating revenue from customers while the secondary purpose will be to make a good infotainment system people can easily navigate. Customers will hate this system. Will they hate it enough to shop another brand? Will they lose market share because of it?
Maybe!
My guess is they will since most non–car people have CarPlay near the top of their feature priority list. But if they can make it adequate enough they’ll at least keep GM loyalists at least. Right now there’s a big question mark around EVs and who will make the best system to compete with Tesla. GM is well positioned in that respect so that could be a reason this infotainment system doesn’t hurt them, or it could derail their fragile lead in the EV space.
I guess we’ll see!
GM was dumb to make this announcement without clear details or demonstration on what they plan to replace it with. Everyone is going to speculate that it’s going to be horrible. For me, I speculate it’s about money. It was like the 5 months or so where they had a $1500 “option” listed that couldn’t be deleted for GMC and Buicks to provide premium Onstar for 3 years. At least they rolled that back pretty quickly. AA and Carplay provide a way to keep your screen up to date for free, longer without depending on the car manufacturer. That’s too much control for them to give up. Plus they can’t sell crappy Nav systems anymore for $2000 a pop and probably lose Onstar subscribers too.
I like Android Auto fine. Now that it’s Illegal in Michigan to press more than 1 touch on your phone at any time you are in the car, including while stopped at a light, it’s pretty important. A phone running GPS in a dock is illegal now if I were to touch it more than once to report an accident on Waze, but I can do the same in an Android Auto screen and it’s 100% OK.
Install it on a tablet that’s rigidly fixed to the dash. Now you can have what you need, and not get done for it.
“Now that it’s Illegal in Michigan to press more than 1 touch on your phone at any time you are in the car, including while stopped at a light, it’s pretty important”
So how are you supposed to dial 911?
It’s kinda been funny seeing the hand wringing and dooming about the Apple CarPlay move. Is CarPlay a better product than most internally derived OEM “Infotainment” (god I hate that word) systems? Sure. Will it be a dealbreaker to most consumers? Probably not. Maybe it’ll have an impact on the margins.
I have a 2015 GM product with the internally generated Chevrolet MyLink. It’s… fine. Nothing spectacular, but it still does everything I need it to do eight years later just swell. And that’s without any software updates at all. That’s all most people care about. If GM can actually deliver on the price and specs of its new Blazer and Equinox EV, they will be a hit. Most people care more about things like styling, space, range, fast charging capability and overall price/value. As you said, look at Tesla and Rivian.
They don’t have CarPlay or Android Audio either, and don’t seem to have any trouble moving cars. I honestly wouldn’t be surprised to see more OEMs making this move over time, it is what it is.
GM should name their system KitchenSync and tell folks it’ll work with everything.
In honor of the upcoming UAW strike:
“If you’re ever in a jam,
Just direct a telegram
To the man in the union suit.”
Bet no one can source that quote. (And yes, I know it refers to long johns rather than, literally, a union man in a suit, but beggars can’t be choosers.)
Osh Kosh by gosh? Been a long time
Put on a Happy Face from Bye Bye Birdie.
Android Auto is terrible. It’s actually making me consider buying an iphone.
We have a brand new car that came with AA built in. I pair the phone as intended. I hit the microphone icon on the screen to use voice prompts. AA says it needs more permissions, but I’ve already allowed everything and it refuses to tell me what I need to do. That’s ok, I only need the screen for maps and music anyway. So I go to use Google Maps, which I know and love. Oops, there’s no icon for it on the menu. So I have to open GM on my phone and run it just to see it on the car screen. Ok, I’ll switch to Waze. Now AA starts crashing repeatedly while I am driving, which resets the Waze route to one I didn’t choose and makes me keep having to deal with the touchscreen instead of focusing on driving.
How is this better than simply allowing the car screen to control my phone?
I have never had that problem. Might be a manufacturer issue with the phone.
Which problem? The microphone/permission issue, the lack of a Google Maps icon issue, or the repeated crashing issue?
I’ve researched the first two and I am definitely not alone. Even Google is aware.
“So, yeah, GM is opening up an invasion on its eastern flank while still figuring out how to deal with battles out west. Moscow by October!
[Editor’s Note: For the record, we are very much here to make friends. – JT]”
Eluding to GM being the Nazis is not how one goes about making them or anyone “friends.”
Wonder what the internal politics at Autopian are like, is it a back stabbing, passive aggressive hell hole? I wonder if “family” is used a lot in the backrooms?
I think it was a reference to making historically bad strategic decisions. I get where you’re coming from but it’s not really as bad as calling, “NAZI” in an argument, as is the custom on the internet.
Damn bro. The multi-front war, march on Moscow follies are boilerplate nation-agnostic military axioms.
Maybe he could have used any of these shoot-self-in-both-feet instances.
But Operation Barbarossa is a nice, relatively recent and easily understood example of strategic stupidity.
Good list. Just Pickett.
Eluding to GM being the Nazis is not how one goes about making them or anyone “friends.”
“Being” no. “Supporters of”, at least in the early days is another matter.
https://historynewsnetwork.org/article/37935
I won’t likely be buying a GM EV, but I couldn’t possibly care less about Car Play.
I’ve gone over my reasons here before, but I tried it out in my truck when I first got it, found it to be a worse experience in virtually every way than just using the combo of Bluetooth audio and built-in nav, and have never touched it again.
If your car has decent built-in navigation and you mostly just listen to music or make calls then that works fine. But for a lot of cars the built-in navigation is clunky, and doesn’t include things like real-time traffic. I prefer CarPlay for that reason, as well as a few other major benefits- much better audio quality, way easier to change songs or handle audiobooks, and being able to deal with messages in real-time in a generally safe way. This last one is not really important when commuting, but when on a long drive that involves coordination with other who you are traveling with or visiting it is really nice.
Maybe they’ve improved it since 2019, but you basically couldn’t look at texts at all, even while stopped. That was and is my biggest gripe with it.
Yeah you have to do the voice to text thing. My wife loves it. It uses Siri on the iPhone and reads the texts to you and then you can dictate a response back verbally. I can’t stand it but a lot of people love it.
There is no chance I would do that, mostly because it would interrupt my music/podcast listening but I guess if it floats your boat.
AA will show you the first line of the text and offer smart replies you can just tap (OK, sure, on my way, etc. based on the content of the text), so no voice necessary.
If I had to take a guess, the most cynical one possible, GM wants to cut the middle man to maintain possession of driver metrics for use and profit. And if they’re starting it out with EVs, I’d presume they’re harvesting drive time, charge time, travel distance, etc metrics as well. I’m not saying using ACP or AA makes it impossible for them to do this, but eliminating those interfaces does, very likely, make it easier.
The UAW should include going back to Carplay/Android Auto in their strike demands.
Rivian should buy the Belvidere plant from Chrysler/Stellantis
GM: If it’s a Google based system this is a ecosystem play, so it might get some reach. 50:50 is reasonable, but never underestimate the ability of GM to utterly screw itself on Infotainment. The problem for them is there are a lot of reasons for me to extend my mobile system into my car, but very few reasons to extend my car system into the rest of my life.
I have the new Android Automotive system in my 23 Sierra (still has Android auto and Car Play).
It is a fantastic system, basically a highly refined Android auto experience with actual vehicle functions added.
I don’t have an iPhone, but I’ll place a bet that it’s Apple and iOS that’s not allowing the contact sharing with the car. I was able to share my contacts from my Android without a hiccup.
The 2 reasons I still use Android auto are:
– OnStar is too expensive in Canada.
– I don’t want a mechanic or their to have access to my Google account (I haven’t fully researched if I can lock it down yet).
You may be right but I’d take that logic one step further; I bet Apple won’t give GM’s system access because GM wants access to more data than Apple is willing to give.
Love or hate Apple, one thing they seem to have drawn a line in the sand on is protecting users’ privacy.
I know a lot of people love Android and Google. I just can’t trust anything that company is up to. They give you too much for free and then use the data from you using their products to package you up and sell you to advertisers. And too many of the car manufacturers are getting into bed with them for my comfort level. Volvo’s entire system is being co-developed with Google. How much is Google getting on my driving behavior? Or what I do in the infotainment system? I just don’t trust it so I can’t buy another Volvo (my wife currently drives a 2019 XC40 after having a 2011 C30 so it would have been a good bet we would have another at some point).
Now GM is doing this and for one thing, I would never create a Google contact list for the above stated reasons. I can’t even consider a GM product now even if the Lyriq looks pretty compelling.
Apple is great at getting you to believe that though. Granted I do believe Google is worse but Apple is not your friend. They recently let on that they want a sweet piece of that Ad revenue and their apps track just as much as Google does. https://gizmodo.com/apple-iphone-analytics-tracking-even-when-off-app-store-1849757558
No, it’s really and truly a part of their ethos. They really do not share data that can be tied back to you.
I don’t believe Apple is my friend but the data trail is not secret and you can see where they are sharing and where they are not.
They make their cash pile off making the physical products so they don’t have to share you as a product. I get where you’re coming from but the two companies do have vastly different business models and I chose the Apple way largely for this reason.
I can’t really take a Gizmodo article seriously after all their beefs with Apple, but they do collect data on you. It’s just that it’s not tied to you and it most certainly is not for the purpose of selling that data to advertisers.
Ford and GM are about to be in for some very rude awakenings that have almost entirely been driven by the monumental hubris of their leadership. This is what happens when:
1). You allow corporations to get too big to fail
2). You make it nearly impossible to hold executives accountable
3). Your leadership subscribes to the Gordon Gekko/80s Wall Street “greed is good” ethos
Both of these companies have been sniffing their own farts for years while delivering products that are largely subpar. They’re perched atop massive houses of cards that are built off of forcing people into more and more expensive vehicles through predatory in house financing options. Despite all of the government money flowing in they’re actually in really precarious positions at the moment.
So are they doing the smart thing and looking at how to improve? Hell no! They’re drunk on LINE GO UP!! LINE MUST GO UP!! They’re going to ride the windfall profits off mediocre products ship for as long as it’s seaworthy. But the bubble is going to pop and they’re going to be left holding the tab when scores of people default on their 10 year/11% APR car notes on $80,000 brodozers and they’ve killed off cars that people can actually afford comfortably.
It’s just as precarious with EVs because of how crazy the depreciation on them is. There are too many on lots right now. Now that the initial hype surrounding them is settling down a bit people are realizing that they’re too expensive, they’re not ready for mass adoption yet, and that they’re basically massive, disposable smartphones. I’m in a prime area for EVs and if you search for pretty much any make and model of them there are dozens (or more) of them sitting on lots right now.
Out of curiosity I searched for Mach Es yesterday and there are hundreds of them within 50 miles of me. Anyway, I’ve rambled enough and gotten a bit off topic (me? Never!)…Ford and GM are in big trouble and I hope we don’t rush to bail them out this time.
Actually, GM’s policy over the past 15 years or so seems to have been to intentionally shrink themselves so that they are small enough to fail the next time they ask for a bailout . They fell further from 22% market share in the US in 2008 to about 17% now, and have exited almost all foreign markets and divested almost all foreign subsidiaries aside from China, Latin America, and South Korea (but have substantially downsized the latter two and will likely leave Korea before too much longer)
The GM system will sell fine to, the luddites. The folks that have bought GM for 45 years straight, have never hooked up their phone to their car, still avoid ATMs and internet banking, and barely can answer calls on their phones. Yep, the boomers. Sure, that market won’t be around for a while, but GM will get good sales for a few years to these folks.
GM was a little too close to offering products people want (Blazer EV, Equinox EV), so they had to hamstring themselves. If it’s just Google’s in-car self-contained system, it might be alright, though. As long as it can keep getting appropriate updates, it’ll be fine, though phones are more likely to stay updated longer-term (by virtue of being replaced more often).
That’s the people who actually won’t mind this. My parents are the type to use the built-in navigation and not Android Auto. If the GM system can tell your phone via bluetooth to call contacts without adding them to a Google account, these sorts will be perfectly happy. They don’t need it to be able to pull directions because they don’t use their phone to store more than the number. And, honestly, if the dealer can help them connect their phone and/or send their contacts to a Google account, they’ll rarely mess with it again until they need help connecting to bluetooth with the next phone. And the still-logged in Google account will be just fine.
You’re on the right track, but think.. more luddite. The GM system will be perfect for folks like.. my mom. She’s still afraid of internet banking, debit cards, and so much more, so hooking up your phone to your car? That’s crazy talk!
No, that’s pretty much who I’m talking about with my parents. They don’t have banking apps on their phones, they’re afraid to use a credit card online, and my mother has called me to ask how to send an email she had composed in Outlook. She somehow didn’t figure out that it would be the send button. My father kept a bag phone until no wireless network would support it. They like bluetooth because of hands-free laws, as long as the bluetooth just connects every time. A GM dealer could probably set them up a Google account for their car and they’ll never touch the account, so long as the bluetooth connects and navigation works (and if the nav stops working, they’ll just stop using it, not fix it).
This is me as well. Car Play provides no benefits to me and a lot of downsides.
“How do I make my got-dang Jitterbug work with my Equinox?!”
If it’s GM trying this on their own, 1:100 is probably safe. If they’re using Google to help, probably more like 1:15.
** Anyone who loathes Food Network stuff should bail out now **
I liken this to the competitors on Beat Bobby Flay. Most of them say something like “Yes, he’s an Iron Chef and has decades of experience, but I’ve been grand executive chef at Flyover Country Club & Lube for over ten minutes. Bobby better watch out because I’m coming for him!!”
And then they’re surprised when they lose. 😐
But I have a secret weapon: I grew up cooking things with my Grandma, who made the best [incredibly basic or incredibly niche dish] I’ve ever had! I can’t lose, unless the challenge is something other than my specific specialty!
Well for starters, it’s a Google system, not a “GM” one, so it’ll probably work just as well as other Google developed car systems, so really like 50:50 chances it’s fine and no one who buys them will actually give a shit. Seriously, outside the car journalism sphere I’ve never heard of anyone complaining about lack of carplay/android auto, as long as they can still bluetooth their phone to the car that’s all they care about.
I know a lot of folks who won’t buy a car without Android Auto/Apple CarPlay. I do work in tech, so that might skew my results, but I think there’s a feeling that it won’t be outdated as quickly, since you (probably) replace your phone more often than your car.
My 10 year old UConnect still feels modern, at least to me. I’ve owned and paired 4 different phones with it so far I think.
Interesting. Most of the auto–enthusiast crowd I know doesn’t care about this at all but normal people that treat their car as an appliance are the ones that have AA and CarPlay as their number one feature must–have.
Case in point; my car does not have anything but a standard BT connection for phone calls and an AUX port to connect my phone for music. My wife has CarPlay in her Volvo and can’t go anywhere without her Siri–enabled voice to text feature.
I have a feeling this system is going to be developed by Google and GM for the purpose of optimizing it to sell you more features and keep their model for making you buy a built in nav system or something. If that is true then people will be hostile to the idea.
GM could come up with something compelling but if they just want to generate revenue by selling something that people already get for free (or already pay for) on their phone then I predict monumental failure.
If they just want to sell you a built–in nav system and another sub to spotify they will lose their shirt on this. If they come up with a way to make the phone apps and features work more seamlessly I could see it being successful, I just see that as 1/1000 since it won’t be the primary focus of the two development teams.
For what it’s worth, I consider myself an auto enthusiast, and I care a lot about CarPlay. What does one thing have to do with the other?
was this the morning dump?
Porsche is the first to implement the new CarPlay. You can access car settings without leaving CP.
I will straight up not buy a car without Android Auto at this point.