BWM shocked the automotive world when it canceled plans to use Apple's CarPlay Ultra system. They were among the first companies to support using Apple's system that changes the entire vehicle interface when activated. The latest statement issued by BMW executives gives the reason why the CarPlay Ultra implementation was canceled.
Two days ago, Stephan Durach, BMW's Senior Vice President of UI/UX Development, said that the company's data shows that the majority of their customers don't use CarPlay that much. Instead, they prefer to use the built-in navigation system provided by BMW in their vehicles. Durach said that the use of CarPlay for navigation in BMWs is a myth.
This is based on data from 10 million vehicles that have been collected. Although he admitted that there are customers who use CarPlay for messaging purposes, they are a minority. So from BMW's point of view, supporting CarPlay Ultra may not be worth it and basic CarPlay support is enough.
In Malaysia, pressure from consumers succeeded in forcing Proton to bring CarPlay and Android Auto support to the X50, X70 and e.MAS 7. Personally, I use Android Auto only for music player integration.