GM is again trying to explain its decision to abandon CarPlay in new electric vehicles

American automaker General Motors (GM) announced last year that it would discontinuation of CarPlay support and Android Auto in its new electric vehicles in favor of its own Ultifi software platform. The decision was highly controversial, as many drivers consider CarPlay a must-have feature in a new car. For example, in 2022, Apple said that 79% of US buyers would only consider a car that works with CarPlay.

To make matters worse, GM’s rollout of Ultifi has gone pretty poorly, with some early reviewers of the Chevrolet Blazer EV experiencing technical issues with the platform last year. Some of these issues have since been resolved, but it’s clear that the automaker may not be as efficient at developing software as a tech company like Apple.

IN statement shared McRumors Last year, GM said its software strategy “builds on the benefits of a system that provides greater integration with the larger ecosystem and GM vehicles.” In other words, the automaker wants to control the entire driving experience, which is both smart and risky.

In a recent interview With EdgeNilay PatelGM’s senior vice president of software Baris Cetinok also tried to defend the automaker’s decision to phase out CarPlay. According to his LinkedIn profile, Cetinok worked at Apple from 2012 to 2021, helping spearhead the launch of Apple Pay, Find My, iCloud Drive and other services.

Cetinok joined GM several months after the company announced its decision to ditch CarPlay and Android Auto, but it’s no surprise that he supports the automaker’s decision. He told Patel that GM “firmly believes” that making its entire experience in the car delivers an “improved customer experience” through “end-to-end magic.”

2024 Chevrolet Blazer EV with GM Ultifi software platform

“But we firmly believe that the effort pays off in improved customer service,” Cetinok said, speaking on Decoder podcast. “You get the most out of your car because now we are the company that makes the car and also creates the infotainment capabilities, the clustering capabilities, the apps and everything else. voice assistant on top of that. The only way to create that end-to-end magic is to have a strong belief that you want to own it all.”

He said GM wants to offer a seamless experience that doesn’t require turning phone mirroring systems like CarPlay and Android Auto on and off.

“When you want to create something so seamless, it’s hard to think about sitting in a car and saying, ‘Okay, I’m doing highway trailers, but let me switch to a completely different user interface to select my podcast,'” said Cetinok. “By the way, this is a single interface, focused on applications – it’s still hard to believe. So I select my podcast and go back to the trailer. Oh, now I can also do the Super Cruise trailer. Let me do this. Then wait, now we’re moving into potentially Level 3 and Level 4 autonomy, which should be deeply integrated with communicating with a map of where the lanes are located. But wait, the card I’m using doesn’t actually communicate with my machine. “

A full transcript of the interview with additional CarPlay commentary is available. on Edge.