Polestar CEO commits to continued CarPlay support: ‘Important for our customers to have the choice’

While Polestar has taken a lot of steps to deepen its relationship with Google for in-car infotainment, the company says it’s still committed to CarPlay as well. In an interview at CES 2024 this week, Polestar CEO Thomas Ingenlath explained that it doesn’t make sense for the company to limit customers and remove the option of CarPlay.

As reported by TechCrunch, Ingenlath’s comments seemed particularly targeted at companies like GM, which is dropping CarPlay from all of its EVs starting this year.

“It’s still too important for our customers to have the choice,” Ingenlath said during an interview at CES 2024. He later added that, in his view, removing the option isn’t the right way of treating customers.gon

“Our priority is very clear; we have a really fantastic system together with Google,” he said. While Ingenlath admitted that adding that Google Built-in provides the best experience, he asked “why would we try to dogmatically educate our customers?”

Ingenlath is only the latest auto executive to promise continued support for CarPlay. Leaders from the likes of Ford, Volvo, and Porsche have also all reiterated their support for CarPlay in light of GM’s announcement last March.

At CES this year, Polestar announced its plans to broaden its relationship with Google for in-car infotainment systems. Currently, Polestar’s infotainment system is powered by Google’s Android Automotive operating system platform, on top of which automakers are free to add Android Auto and CarPlay support.

9to5Mac’s Take

I had the chance to drive a Polestar 2 last year and walked away very impressed with its implementation of dual-screen CarPlay. I’m glad to see Polestar commit to continued CarPlay support even as it also works closely with Google on in-car technology.

I am a bit worried about Polestar’s long-term plan for in-car infotainment. It certainly seems like its goal is to build a custom system on top of Android Automotive to rival Android Auto and CarPlay. Still, for the time being, it seems like CarPlay is here to stay for Polestar.

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