Car manufacturer Volkswagen today revealed that it would add support for CarPlay and Android Auto to its vehicles at the end of the year, bringing Apple's in-car experience to the popular car brand. It'll debut alongside VW's new in-car infotainment system, referred to as MIB II.
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Later this year, VW will introduce the second generation "modular infotainment platform" (MIB II) in the United States. Along with the new infotainment system, MirrorLink™ will also be made available for the first time, integrating the apps and operating layout of numerous smartphones (including Samsung, HTC, LG and Sony) into cars. When MirrorLink™ is introduced, two other interfaces will also be launched under the App-Connect label: CarPlay™ (Apple®) and Android Auto™ (Google®). Simultaneously, VW will also launch CarPlay™ and Android Auto™ in the European market.
When CarPlay was first announced, Volkswagen was one of the few major car brands not involved. The company isn't listed on Apple's CarPlay partners page on its website either. However, the CarPlay integration debuting alongside VW's new infotainment system indicates the German manufacturer may have been waiting until it sorted out the future of its in-car technology before committing to Apple's.
While VW cars in both Europe and North America will get CarPlay support in late 2015, it's unknown how much VW's new infotainment system will cost.
Top Rated Comments
It's cliche, but take care of your car and it'll take care of you. My 2007 Passat is still going strong. I've gotten all scheduled maintenance and no problems thus far. Only 45K miles on this sucker though!
I'll be getting my 2015 Touareg before this integration but I'm not really interested in in car apps and like the RNS system in the top VW so it's no loss, but my wife might get a VW after her Mazda lease is up and this should be available by then.