Ford CEO Jim Farley says the automaker is committed to keeping Apple CarPlay and Android Auto in its cars, which is in direct opposition to General Motors’ recent decision to drop the popular features. GM is reeling from its announcement to eliminate the option for Apple and Android integration, and the carmaker is now claiming these features lead to cell phone use in the car.
The backlash to GM’s decision has been considerable, and its main rival in the U.S. is now heaping onto the criticism, albeit indirectly. Ford CEO Jim Farley announced Ford’s commitment to Apple CarPlay and Android Auto via Twitter (also known as X) on Thursday, citing a curiously anti-GM take in his post:
According to Farley, people love Apple CarPlay and Android Auto precisely because it helps them “keep their eyes on the road and hands on the wheel.” Meanwhile, GM executives tell Motor Trend that when the phone-mirroring programs fail to work properly, people resort to using their phones anyway.
And that, GM says, defeats the purpose of having CarPlay and Android Auto in the car at all. While GM is right that people tend to fall back on their phones whenever CarPlay and Android Auto get buggy, the point of these features is ostensibly to create a safer way to interface with phones. Whether that is ever safe in a car is another question altogether, but CarPlay and Android Auto have become ubiquitous for reasons that both GM and Ford are unwilling to admit.
People prefer smartphone integration from the companies that make their phones because stock infotainment in cars has sucked for the last few car generations. So, when Apple and Google rolled out CarPlay and Android Auto, people finally had an alternative to the awful native infotainment in their cars.
Automakers are only now paying attention to infotainment, partially because they’re not keen on another major company having such a central role in their products. It also goes without saying that there’s a lot of money to be made through in-vehicle purchases delivered via infotainment, and, of course, OEMs would rather not have to give another company a cut.
Nonetheless, Farley touted the relationship that Ford has with the tech giants in his tweet, going on to say, “We work closely with Apple & Google to create a very high-quality experience for customers. And I think we have the best experience out there with SYNC 4A.” The latter is Ford’s native infotainment.
Among the replies to Farley’s tweet, people asked about improvements to the phone-mirroring programs, such as adding route planning functionality for EVs (like the Mustang Mach-E) that require charging detours. The feature is missing from Google Maps, so some users rely on Ford’s built-in navigation. Farley assured people Ford will work with its partners to make CarPlay and Android Auto better, rather than announcing Ford will drop them altogether, as GM has.
Update December 14, 2023, 05:55 p.m. ET: General Motors provided a statement regarding its recent decisions around Apple CarPlay and Android Auto in an effort to correct what the automaker considers a misrepresentation of its original comments. Per GM:
“We wanted to reach out to clarify that comments about GM’s position on phone projection were misrepresented and to reinforce our valued partnerships with Apple and Google and each company’s commitment to driver safety. GM’s embedded infotainment strategy is driven by the benefits of having a system that allows for greater integration with the larger GM ecosystem and vehicles.”