A June study has revealed just how important Apple CarPlay and Android Auto are to new car buyers worldwide. It spells bad news for the brands that don’t offer smartphone mirroring, according to Carscoops.
The McKinsey & Co study reveals that among all global car buyers, 30% of those in the market for an EV and 35% of those looking to buy a combustion car say not having Apple CarPlay or Android Auto is a deal-breaker. This sentiment is shared in the U.S., where 25% of EV buyers and 38% of combustion car buyers said they’re not interested in purchasing a vehicle if it doesn’t have smartphone mirroring.
The study revealed that 30% of EV buyers would be willing to pay for smartphone integration while 17% of gas and diesel-powered cars would be willing to do the same, Auto News reports.
The study also asked respondents what they would do if Apple CarPlay and Android Auto were removed from their current vehicles. Globally, 35% of people said they would use the standard infotainment system instead, while 52% said they would use their smartphone, and 14% would change brands for their next vehicle purchase.
The tech giant previewed the next generation of CarPlay at the 2022 Worldwide Developer Conference (yep, its debut is running a bit behind). It will support content for multiple screens within a vehicle. Apple says that deeper integration with the vehicle will allow users to do things like control the radio or change the climate directly through CarPlay, and using the vehicle data, CarPlay will render the speed, fuel level, temperature, and more on the instrument cluster.
Users will be able to personalize their driving experience by choosing different gauge cluster designs, and with added support for widgets, users will have at-a-glance information from Weather and Music right on their car’s dashboard.
“With the next generation of CarPlay, we partnered with automakers to design an entirely new, unified experience that enables the very best of Apple and each particular automaker,” says lan Dye, Apple’s Vice President of Human Interface Design. “It is a blend of a user’s personal experience of iPhone paired with a celebration of the strong brand identity of each automaker. The next generation of CarPlay also introduces a driving experience that leverages the advanced capabilities of the car along with the power of iPhone. We’ve designed a complete system of controls that allows for seamless interactions between vehicle functions alongside the features of iPhone.”
