Do you remember when the first screen cars appeared? They were very original, but each brand had its operating system, switching between brands was not intuitive because you had to learn the system from scratch and connecting the mobile was practically impossible beyond allowing the Bluetooth connection for calls or music.
The arrival of Apple CarPlay and Android Auto changed that frustrating experience with different operating systems (and heavy in some cases), for something much more visual, comfortable to use and that everyone understood, since it was the reflection of the phone screen. They have practically become a standard, but NOW General Motors backtracks and announces it will stop using both Android Auto and CarPlay. The reason? They created their own system: Ultifi.
When we already had a standard, GM wants to overthrow it with Ultifi
Google and Apple systems are found in a multitude of vehicles from virtually every brand. From a few years to this part, CarPlay and Android Auto have, as we said, become standard. It’s something that users understand, the learning curve is practically nil and from time to time they are updated with juicy new features (such as Coolwalk in Androdi Auto).
Well, as we read in Reuters, the cars of the General Motors group will stop integrating Apple CarPlay and Android Auto in future launches, although there are important nuances. The first thing is that this decision will not affect vehicles that are already on the market. Chevrolet, in fact, bet a lot on CarPlay and Android Auto and had one of the largest fleets with these systems.
Also, future combustion vehicles appear to be out of this plan, so diesel and gasoline will continue to launch with jetting systems. It will be the new electric vehicles that will abandon the two systems to bet on Ultifi. The first car that will arrive with Ultifi and without the projection of Apple and Google it will be the 2024 Chevrolet Blazer EVexpected by the end of this year.
The idea is to completely stop relying on these systems by 2035, with a completely renewed fleet with Ultifi. In fact, if you go to the Blazer EV folder in Europe, almost at the end, you can read this description:
“Ultifi is GM’s software platform that will usher in a new era of programming-defined experiences and services in vehicles. It will enable efficient delivery of on-demand updates, customization options and exciting new applications. , as well as regular software upgrades.” “.
More information to optimize car performance and… subscriptions?
On the Blazer screen we can see native apps, as well as Google integration with Assistant, Maps and even the Play Store. This is not an image of the final product, as the photo caption indicates.
You may be wondering why this decision is being made when it seems, at the user level, a step backwards. The group explained their reasons and, in fact, he confirmed that he had been working with Google since 2019 to design the infotainment systems for its future electric cars.
In this way, the operating system will be much more connected to the other vehicle systems such as the Super Cruise driving assistant, as well as learning and optimizing each user’s usage habits. Mike Hichme, executive director of GM’s digital cockpit experience, confirmed to Reuters that they are preparing many new driver assistance features that will be closely tied to the dashboard and they don’t want them depending on whether the person has a cell phone or not.
In a world where virtually every person has a smartphone, it’s a little strange, but there’s a second part. And that’s it, Edward Kummer, GM’s Chief Digital Officer, communicated that they believe there are revenue opportunities from in-vehicle subscriptions.
Subscriptions in cars are nothing new. My colleague Alberto de la Torre wrote an article a few months ago imagining the future of vehicles and these subscriptions, but apart from approaches like those of BMW to unlock functions already present in their cars or to keep the seat warm, we haven’t had many more examples.
It’s not that we have much information about what the GM group plans to do, but they have confirmed that buyers of an electric vehicle from the brand will have access to Google Maps and Google Assistant. at no additional cost for eight years. What will happen beyond these eight years? It’s unclear whether you’ll have to pay to use Spotify or Audible, services that will also come natively to Ultifi as well.
The goal: to stop circumventing its own systems that cost money for standards that do not bring benefits (to car manufacturers)
Leaving aside the information -GM is not that it has detailed too much what its system will look like and where they plan to profit from the subscriptions-, it must be remembered that in a survey carried out a few years ago, almost half of users who bought a new car wanted Apple CarPlay or Android Auto.
It’s logical: we all have an Android mobile or an iPhone in our pocket, we know our system and it’s easy to “launch” applications. However, these are systems that, although they don’t cost automakers money, cause them to lose revenue because they aren’t the ones developing the system and they can’t charge for information or subscriptions.
With the move to proprietary systems, manufacturers have the ability to add subscriptions to services with their own payment gateways, but they can also unlock new features on cars. This way, instead of making multiple versions of the same vehicle, they make less, but with features locked behind a paywall.
We’ll see how the game plays out at General Motors. At the moment it is not something that is going to affect Europe because yes you can get your vehicles imported, but it is not a group that has a strong presence in our country (and almost not in Europe no more), but it can pave the way for the rest of the groups that operate in our territory.
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