[RahulNagaraj]

In a recent interview, Ola Kallenius, CEO of Mercedes-Benz, confirmed that the carmaker will not offer the next-generation CarPlay in its future models. Instead, the brand has decided to focus on its own Operating System.



Apple, which will introduce its next-generation CarPlay later this year, had initially named Mercedes-Benz as one of the carmakers to receive the software. However, the company CEO has confirmed that they have chosen not to adopt the upcoming CarPlay update in its models. Kallenius described Mercedes' proprietary OS as the "central nervous system" of the vehicle's software architecture. Mercedes aims to offer a holistic approach, integrating all of the vehicle's functionalities seamlessly, to offer a superior experience, which, as per Kallenius, can only be achieved by the manufacturer itself.

Having said that, Mercedes-Benz has confirmed that it will continue supporting the current generation of Apple CarPlay and Android Auto on its vehicles. Customers will get the option to choose the platform which best suits their preference.

Apple has confirmed that the first carmakers to get the new-generation CarPlay software later this year are Porsche & Aston Martin.

Source: TheVerge

Link to Team-BHP news

[GTO]

I read up on this. In a nutshell, Mercedes will not offer the full, enhanced Apple Carplay Dashboard. It's too complex and too tightly integrated for any manufacturer's comfort levels. That's like an OS in itself & I believe, Apple would want it to control some of the car's features too.

However, today's version of Apple CarPlay (which is basically your phone screen on the car's ICE) will continue to be offered.

No big OEM will be willing to handover their entire dashboard to Apple (of course, a few exceptions will be there).

[ashivas89]

Originally Posted by GTO

I read up on this. In a nutshell, Mercedes will not offer the full, enhanced Apple Carplay Dashboard. It's too complex and too tightly integrated for any manufacturer's comfort levels. That's like an OS in itself & I believe, Apple would want it to control some of the car's features too.

However, today's version of Apple CarPlay (which is basically your phone screen on the car's ICE) will continue to be offered.

No big OEM will be willing to handover their entire dashboard to Apple (of course, a few exceptions will be there).

Could not have put it better

The day big auto companies let Apple/Google into their infotainment to the extent Apple wants in this case, that's the day they will become another "foxconn".

[Contrapunto]

This is an interesting development. The legacy carmakers are now looking at a significant threat to their business.

(1) Gradual (and inevitable) electrification will keep eroding the legacy powertrain advantages.
(2) As Chinese EV firms start offering the entire stack on license, leaving new challengers to focus only on the top-hat design (and some UI), new competitors are coming up in the horizon. Aggressive tariff and non-tariff revenue will work only for so long.
(3) Recent challenges notwithstanding, Tesla will continue to keep bashing on.....

German premium car-makers are caught in-between these three trends. Compounding these factors is a fact that German automakers have not (so far) shown great competence in designing "driver UI- as opposed to industrial code" software that consumers love. VWs struggle with software are legion. As more cars start offering the in-depth carplay and Android Auto, consumers will actually start demanding them. Mercedes may feel that they can go the Tesla way and own all the telemetry. But can they, especially in the longer term? Only time will tell.