drivers don’t buy new models if they don’t have it

Although the safety of car touchscreens is still in doubt, many drivers have already become accustomed to their advantages and do not want to part with them; but only if they have Android Auto. And being able to use your favorite apps in the car, like Google Maps or Waze, is great motivation to use touchscreens in the first place.

This has become clearer than ever with a new study published by McKinsey & Co, which analyzed the global market and driver opinions; and the conclusion is clear: If you don’t have Android Auto, a car is less likely to be chosen by consumers.

Concretely, 30% of drivers looking for an electric car and 35% of those looking for a combustion car declared that compatibility with Android Auto and Apple Carplay is a “decisive factor” during your future purchase; If the car is not compatible with these systems, they simply won’t buy it.

In fact, it is important that compatibility comes standard with the vehicle. The study also asked whether buyers would be willing to pay for an option to achieve this compatibility, and 30% of electric car buyers said yes, but only 17% of combustion car buyers responded positively. same way.

Another very interesting result concerns the question of what drivers would do if the brand suddenly removed Android Auto compatibility from their cars; 52% said they would use their smartphone instead of using the default system, and 14% even threatened to switch to another brand for your next car.

These results are important because some manufacturers have considered abandoning Android Auto for prioritize your own systemswith which they can obtain more driver data and more income (for example, to activate new functions or through advertising).

The most famous case is that of General Motors, which owns some of the most popular American brands, and which sparked controversy last year by announcing that it would abandon Android Auto “for safety”. Since then, the company has tried to calm things down by clarifying these remarks (it said that it was referring to the use of cell phones while driving), in addition to promising applications like Google Maps in its own system. Judging by this study, GM will be in trouble in the future if 14% of its drivers decide to switch to another brand for eliminating Android Auto.

Other brands are going the opposite direction: they’re removing features from their in-app systems because users prefer Android Auto. This is the case of Ferrari, which removed navigation from its systems so that drivers use Google Maps with Android Auto or Apple Carplay.