CarPlay Helping Some GM Dealers Close Deals on New Vehicles

Monday December 14, 2015 3:46 pm PST by Joe Rossignol
CarPlay made its wider debut in a range of 2016 vehicles from over a dozen U.S. carmakers this month, including General Motors, Honda, Mercedes-Benz, Volkswagen and others, and Apple's in-dash software appears to be paying early dividends for at least one of those major auto manufacturers.

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General Motors said it has "anecdotal evidence" that CarPlay, available in over two dozen 2016 Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet and GMC models, is helping sell new vehicles to customers, according to The Wall Street Journal. A pair of GM dealers confirmed CarPlay is "helping to close the deal" on purchases.
GM officials say they have anecdotal evidence of an impact, and agree the offering has been well-received. Phil Abram, executive director of connectivity an infotainment at GM, said customers have been asking for the feature for years and the company plans to expand it to as many more models as soon as possible. […]

"We've had people coming in because they've heard about it, and once they see it, they really do like it because it mirrors the look and feel of the devices they use," said Chris Hemmersmeier, chief executive of a chain of Jerry Seiner Dealerships in Salt Lake City, Utah. "It's helping to close the deal once they see it."
GM experienced sales growth during October and November, but the spurt cannot decisively be attributed to CarPlay. At the very least, GM's early adoption of CarPlay is helping draw some customers away from automakers that have yet to commit to the software platform, including the world's best-selling automaker Toyota.
Gavin McGrath, the general manager of Pat McGrath Chevyland in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, has been advertising CarPlay availability and it has drawn in customers.

"It certainly has helped us," he said. "The biggest thing that it has brought to the retail front is…navigation is going to cost $900 [to] $1,000 [as an option]. Here you have Apple CarPlay, and boom your nav is there. That has already helped us close deals."
Chevrolet supports CarPlay on all vehicles with 7-inch or 8-inch MyLink screens, including the 2016 Camaro, Colorado, Corvette Z06, Corvette Stingray, Cruze, Impala, Malibu, Silverado 1500, Silverado 2500HD, Silverado 3500HD, Suburban, Tahoe and Volt. Our list of 2016 U.S. CarPlay vehicles covers Buick, Cadillac and GMC models.

Related Roundup: CarPlay
Tag: General Motors
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knownikko
54 months ago
I'm glad to finally see a critical mass of automakers relinquish control of their radio screens. So many "infotainment" systems are pure garbage. Let the computer companies make the computers, and the car companies make the cars.
Rating: 6 Votes
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Joe Rossignol
54 months ago

Just bought a 2015 Ford Fiesta ST this past summer and man I wish I'd waited until the 2016 models with CarPlay™ rolled out. Now I'm left with quite a nice car but the Ford MyFordTouch™ Sync is really lackluster...

Ford doesn't have CarPlay in 2016 vehicles. May be possible through a future software update, but they've given mixed answers about that.
Rating: 4 Votes
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Zirel
54 months ago
Yep, GM, give what people want, that helps to sell cars.

Let the computer companies make the computers, and the car companies make the cars.


Rating: 4 Votes
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knownikko
54 months ago
I believe it. I doubt I'd buy a new car without it.
Rating: 3 Votes
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Zirel
54 months ago

today Apple is giving away thier OS to car manufacturers...

just wonder what happens to CarPlay after Apple releases Apple Car.


It's not their OS.

Of course it's to Apple's best interests to have CarPlay in other brands.

If you buy a car with CarPlay, you'll probably keep buying iPhones.
Rating: 3 Votes
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KiwiAdventure
54 months ago
Lets see how many extra Americans get killed on the road because of using Car Play. Most are bad enough drivers without adding this to the crash rate.
Rating: 3 Votes
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RB1959
54 months ago



It'll be useless when lawmakers make it illegal to view messages/email through an AutoOS anyways.

Lol.


Another person who is commenting on something they clearly have not seen. You cannot view messages on a CarPlay system. Siri gives the option of reading messages to you. You cannot see or read messages, you can only hear them and respond by dictating your reply to Siri. You cannot receive email on CarPlay, there is no email function. Apple have deliberately kept the CarPlay system simple and hands and eyes free. It's a very safe system to use.

Maps work very well and the display dims at night so it doesn't dazzle. You can turn the display off if you prefer.

I've had it in my car for over six months, if that makes me a "sheepie." So be it.
Rating: 3 Votes
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jjcaspar
54 months ago

Ford providing a significant software update for a vehicle you already purchased?


Just got the Siri Eyes Free update for our 3 year old Ford Explorer. Pretty cool. The Japanese auto makers, like with so many things, are way behind on this. I only wish they would make it available for my Tesla...
Rating: 2 Votes
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Lancer
54 months ago
I hope people realize they can install CarPlay in any existing car, you don't have to buy new just to get CarPlay.
Rating: 2 Votes
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vertical smile
54 months ago

I too was drawn in to Air Play when choosing on a new vehicle, too bad the execution is far from most things I've become used to with Apple.
The Air Play on my 2016 GMC Canyon is buggy as hell, running IOS 9.2 on my iPhone 6. Issues with Pandora constantly, issues with the Maps App not being in night or day mode at the correct time (at night a white/tan map is less than ideal as is a dark map during the day), issues with it staying connected, recognizing Siri commands, understanding my Siri commands, etc etc etc.

Now, since it's a 3rd party implantation by GMC, GMC blames my iPhone, and Apple blames issues with GMC. Typical pass the buck while NOBODY is or can do anything about my issues. Just finding out what version software and possibly getting updates is frustrating to say the least. Again, GMC dealer says it's on the iOS side, Apple says it's an issue with GMC...

It's cool when it works, but I feel like I'm back on IOS 1.0 when it comes to being polished or truly ready for prime time.
It's slightly better than using bluetooth though, which wants to play random music loudly everytime it connects, or returns from a call, etc. CONSTANT playing music when I want nothing of the sort. I don't have BT paired anymore so at least I can actually control what gets playing through AirPlay... most of the time.

I think you meant "Carplay"


This sucks. I wonder if it is a software or hardware issue. I haven't had much experience with Carplay since my I installed it in my wife's 2015 Mazda5, but the few times I used it, it seemed to work fine.

I wonder if it is an issue with Carplay, or iOS 9.
Rating: 2 Votes

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