Ford Rival GM Gloats About Its Anti-CarPlay Strategy

Ford’s cross-town rival General Motors announced that it would be ditching Apple CarPlay and Android Auto in its all-electric vehicles way back in April 2023, a decision that instantly drew its fair share of criticism. Regardless, GM quickly doubled down on that strategy, claiming that its in-house alternative provides a superior user experience. Now, well over a year later, that’s still the case, even after Ford CEO Jim Farley has said on multiple occasions that The Blue Oval won’t be following suit and intends to continue to offer Apple CarPlay and Android Auto in its vehicles moving forward.

“We are not shipping devices with just monitors; we’re not a monitor company,” GM Senior Vice President of Software and Services Product Management, Program Management and Design, Baris Cetinok, said in a recent interview, according to GM Authority. “We’re building beautifully designed, complete thoughts and complete convictions. We say, ‘This car is designed to do the following things awesomely.’ This is Silverado, this is what it stands for and this is what it does. Let’s get to it.” Cetinok added that he thinks GM is “best positioned” to create a “deeply integrated experience” in the world of vehicle infotainment.

On top of a GM Authority poll showing that 90 percent of the site’s readers don’t support this move, other studies have found similar sentiments among shoppers. That includes a recent Mobility Consumer Pulse survey from McKinsey & Co, which found that among 30,000 consumers in 15 countries, 30 percent of EV shoppers and 35 percent of ICE owners won’t buy a car that isn’t compatible with smartphone applications like Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. In the U.S., those numbers were similar at 25 percent of EV buyers and 38 percent of ICE shoppers.

With around 90 percent of all new vehicles touting Android Auto and Apple CarPlay compatibility, it stands to reason that GM faces an uphill battle convincing consumers that its software is superior. Farley added fuel to that fire in an interview conducted shortly after GM’s announcement last year as well, admitting that automakers “kind of lost that battle 10 years ago” in regard to in-vehicle infotainment.