Apple CarPlay partner Toyota not planning to add support any time soon - report

Posted:
in iPhone edited March 2015
Despite being among the first automakers to sign on with Apple's CarPlay initiative, Japanese marque Toyota is reportedly planning to stick with its own in-house infotainment system for the foreseeable future.




"We may all eventually wind up [with CarPlay or Android Auto], but right now we prefer to use our in-house proprietary platforms for those kinds of functions," Toyota spokesperson John Hanson told the New York Times. Hanson limited his comments to the U.S. market, and while Apple's iPhone remains wildly popular in Toyota's home country of Japan, it does not seem likely that the stance will change across the Pacific.

Ford, another early CarPlay partner, has chosen the opposite approach and will add support for both CarPlay and Android Auto. The carmaker aims to make the updated infotainment options available in every Ford sold in the U.S. by the end of next year.

"We don't want people to have to make a vehicle choice based on which mobile phone they have," Ford executive Don Butler told the paper. "We want to accommodate all customers and their devices."

Volkswagen -- the largest automotive company in the world -- is taking the same road, announcing at this year's Consumer Electronics Show that CarPlay will join Android Auto and MirrorLink on its vehicles in late 2015.

CarPlay has seen slower-than-expected adoption since its announcement early last year, but has begun to pick up steam of late. Apple will introduce support for wireless CarPlay in iOS 8.3, and General Motors is set to integrate CarPlay in its next-generation Volt hybrid.
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 133
    Let them underserve their customers. I'm not planning to be one of theirs anytime soon.
  • Reply 2 of 133
    Guess I'm not getting a 4Runner then lol
  • Reply 3 of 133
    welshdogwelshdog Posts: 1,897member
    Toyota is not known for caring about car sound/navigation at all. Even in the Lexus line the sound systems are fairly boring.
  • Reply 4 of 133

    Not sure when Toyota officially announced this, but it wouldn't surprise me if this spreads to other car makers if the reports pick up and there's more proof that Apple is entering the auto industry.

     

    One would think they would want to offer the best experience for their customers, but this could be a way to start freezing Apple out of the car experience... at least for the time being.

  • Reply 5 of 133

    Such antiquated thinking of Toyota to not support CarPlay. How hard is it really to make CarPlay an add-on and charge more money for it, as opposed to outright not supporting it.

  • Reply 6 of 133

    So why jump onto the announcement bandwagon if you aren't sure? I don't think something drastic went wrong with CarPlay for them to change their minds about it later.

  • Reply 7 of 133
    bryanhauer wrote: »
    Not sure when Toyota officially announced this, but it wouldn't surprise me if this spreads to other car makers if the reports pick up and there's more proof that Apple is entering the auto industry.

    One would think they would want to offer the best experience for their customers, but this could be a way to start freezing Apple out of the car experience... at least for the time being.

    Freeze Apple out? Huh?
    How does not implementing CarPlay stop Apple from entering the car business, if that's what you mean by "freeze out"???
  • Reply 8 of 133
    Originally Posted by Suddenly Newton View Post

    How does not implementing CarPlay stop Apple from entering the car experience

     

    Key difference, not that they’re making a car.

  • Reply 9 of 133



    We'll see how quickly they change course when VW and Honda and Ford and Chevrolet and other competitors roll out CarPlay/Android Auto capable head units throughout their lineups in 2016 and 2017 models and start killing it with Millennial customers as Toyota's average customer age continues trending upwards. This is going to be a killer feature for a substantial number of younger customers who want to use their latest and greatest phones for navigation and music while driving instead of using dated, unresponsive, and shitty proprietary car manufacturer systems.

  • Reply 10 of 133
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Suddenly Newton View Post





    Freeze Apple out? Huh?

    How does not implementing CarPlay stop Apple from entering the car business, if that's what you mean by "freeze out"???



    It doesn't. I meant freezing them out of their car experience. It means they may choose to not play nice with them and integrate Apple features if they think they're going to be a competitor is all I'm saying. Kind of like Apple getting rid of default Google properties on the iPhone/iPad when Google entered the phone business.  I'm probably just reading too much into it, but thought there could be a correlation. Hopefully not though.

  • Reply 11 of 133

    Seems to me Toyota freezing out CarPlay is just about as smart a move as Microsoft freezing iOS out of Mobile Office.  Toyota''s losing touch with its customers, or future customers.

  • Reply 12 of 133
    yuck9yuck9 Posts: 112member

    Have you played with carplay yet ? It sucks. Bought a Alpine unit and after 6 days of them trying to get it to work I had them remove it.

    Deck worked great. It's half baked and does not work well. 

  • Reply 13 of 133
    To what avail?

    Stupid !

    Same level of decision as their car designs!
  • Reply 14 of 133
    ecatsecats Posts: 272member
    I recently drove a Lexus GS450h for a weekend away. It has a very large screen and is controlled via a moveable puck.

    My passenger and I both noted how poorly organised and counter intuitive the controls were. Each of us had a few attempts at trying to figure out how to add our destination to the maps. It was incredibly confusing. Ultimately we ended up choosing a nearby preset that the owner had used prior, because we simply couldn't find the place to add our own.

    The other features are too cumbersome to navigate while driving, despite some useful features being locked away into that interface. The display is cluttered with unhelpful visual noise. E.g. Text almost always runs over (and thus against) a graphic backdrop which makes glancing to the song or other information take longer than necessary.)

    I actually recall vocalising that "this car is such a perfect candidate for carplay", it seems the in car systems are built new for every model and don't command much importance, despite being in regular use by the driver.
  • Reply 15 of 133
    tundraboy wrote: »
    Seems to me Toyota freezing out CarPlay is just about as smart a move as Microsoft freezing iOS out of Mobile Office.  Toyota''s losing touch with its customers, or future customers.

    Apple got frozen out by the "big box" retailers in the 90s when their sales clerks routinely recommended Windows PCs over Macs. Apple took more drastic steps to right that wrong: they learned how to run a retail business of their own. Freeze on, Toyota. You don't know what seeds you're sowing.
  • Reply 16 of 133
    "We may all eventually wind up [with CarPlay or Android Auto], but right now we prefer to use our in-house proprietary platforms for those kinds of functions," Toyota spokesperson John Hanson

    By the sounds of that I wouldn't be referring to them as a CarPlay partner anymore. If the other major manufacturers support both CarPlay and Android then hopefully that will put pressure on Toyota. My next car is unlikely to be a Toyota anyway regardless of CarPlay support but I imagine it would have an impact on some potential buyers.
  • Reply 17 of 133
    Between the horrible experience of the antiquated dealership model along with the negotiation process to the other end with CarPlay being slow to include in cars along with reports that it's too slow and cumbersome in actual use, I really hope Apple is getting into the car business because I want all of this to change.

    II want to be able to go and buy the sticker price on a car knowing that it's the same experience as buying a new MacBook Pro in an Apple Store. The prices are the prices. You know the stores get their profit but you also know you're not getting taken advantage of. Of course, with a car there could be some various in taxes and registration, but that is separate from the product itself. Honestly, I would buy a new car much more frequently than I do and likely buy more expensive cars if I didn't have to deal with the current system.
  • Reply 18 of 133
    welshdog wrote: »
    Toyota is not known for caring about car sound/navigation at all. Even in the Lexus line the sound systems are fairly boring.

    which is excellent since it means they at least in the car industry they haven't forgotten that cars are about making long lasting quality engineering decisions focused on driving, not pumping out glorified air cons and sound systems on wheels.

    i don't need my car to have an infotainment system I need it to work. which is why I drive a 60 series Landcruiser.

    I'm a bit odd like that though, In that I look for a car, when buying a car not a stereo
  • Reply 19 of 133
    which is excellent since it means they at least in the car industry they haven't forgotten that cars are about making long lasting quality engineering decisions focused on driving, not pumping out glorified air cons and sound systems on wheels.

    i don't need my car to have an infotainment system I need it to work. which is why I drive a 60 series Landcruiser.

    I'm a bit odd like that though, In that I look for a car, when buying a car not a stereo

    That's a very limited view of an automobile. Why do you think an automobile that drives well is mutually exclusive to an automobile that is auto comfortable for the user? How does having a radio, GPS, handsfree, climate control, etc. make the other incompatible with a durable driver?
  • Reply 20 of 133
    I completely understand Toyota’s decision. They’re currently too busy with all those car recalls to commit to any resources to good decision making.
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