In 2013, Apple officially unveiled CarPlay, the in-car system that would allow Apple device users to experience a hands-free experience.
Last March, the Cupertino-based company officially launched CarPlay to the world, and ever since auto manufacturers have been gradually adopting the technology into their vehicles. Just about every manufacturer out there has declared at least its intent in supporting CarPlay at some point in the (near) future, while many are already supporting CarPlay right now.
But none of them, including Volkswagen and Honda, are supporting CarPlay with the same tenacity that General Motors is. In May of this year, the CEO of GM confirmed that 14 Chevrolet vehicles would support CarPlay this year. In June, the first Chevrolet Corvette Z06 with CarPlay built-in made its way off the assembly line and onto the parking lots of dealerships nationwide.
According to a report from the Wall Street Journal, citing different pieces of anecdotal evidence gathered from dealerships in the United States, the presence of CarPlay is a solid deal closer in many regards. In Salt Lake City, Utah, Chris Hemmersmeier says that potential buyers have come in to check out CarPlay and, after using it and seeing it in action, have bought the car because of its ease of use.
“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. It’s helping to close the deal once they see it.”
And in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, Gavin McGrath says that the presence of Apple CarPlay is not just making customers want to buy it because of its built-in navigation option, it has led him to think twice about the cars he’s ordered for his dealership, as he believes CarPlay will take a big chunk out of vehicles with built-in (and often pricey) navigation options of their own:
“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.”
Based on this evidence, it certainly sounds like CarPlay is doing well for itself. It’s interesting to consider how Apple’s product might be boosting auto sales, especially considering there are so many rumors that Apple is planning on entering the auto market itself with its own vehicle.
[via Wall Street Journal]
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