Would-be Cadillac buyers that are turned off at the idea that General Motors will not offer Apple CarPlay in its EVs can add Volvo to their consideration list.
On Wednesday in Stockholm, Sweden, hours before the 2027 EX60 debuted Volvo’s Chief Engineering and Technology Officer Anders Bell confirmed to The Drive during a media round table the automaker will continue to offer Apple CarPlay in its vehicles including EVs. “Yes, Yes absolutely we will,” Bell said.
“It’s kind of part of our mentality on this. We want to integrate it to your digital life, not force you to something. So, we need to adapt to you, whatever your digital ecosystem is as a customer, you make your choices,” Bell said.
Volvo’s going to take things one step further, according to Bell. Despite the fact that Apple CarPlay will continue to be offered, and the software team spent time to deliver a “really nice integration of Apple CarPlay,” according to Bell, the Swedish automaker is also launching a native Apple Music app.
“If you want to run your Apple Music through Apple CarPlay, fine. If you just want to run it on the native system, there’s a dedicated app for Apple Music, because we do have a mind-blowing sound system in this car, so we want to have as much Spatial Audio as possible, and Apple Music is the biggest one on that,” Bell said.
Bell waffled on whether consumers will eventually walk away from Apple CarPlay in the name of native apps. “Maybe. I think our job will always be we want to be providing the best absolutely native experience we can. But if you want to have Android Auto, or if you want to have Apple CarPlay, we should have the best supremely good integration. It’s like the customer needs to choose,” Bell said.
The reason Apple CarPlay even exists? Bell said, “The reason Apple CarPlay even exists is because the infotainment system was so sh*tty back in the day in the cars. And now it’s a great experience. I use it occasionally, but I mostly use the native system myself.”
“I’m all in an Apple user. But again, it’s customer choice and we integrate it into your life. And doing kind of the bit by bit, the small stuff, like, so just the wind jets [referring to the onscreen touch controls for the air vents] and how it interacts with the app and everything, it’s all about making your life as a customer easier and have your choice. We don’t want to impose in your life.,” Bell said.
Bell’s comments echoed those of Sara Erichsen Susnjar, Volvo’s Senior Design Manager, who told The Drive in November, the automaker wants to have its own tech stack, own the hardware, and have more control to enable the company to provide a more robust experience. But, “we cannot deny what our customers like and what make their life better. And we know that in the United States CarPlay is the level of penetration in the market is massive. And more so, we know that there’s a very high level of compatibility between Apple users and Volvo customers,” Erichsen Susnjar said.
Erichsen Susnjar said that while Volvo aims to afford the best implementation of Apple CarPlay it can, it still wants to keep the magic bubble sauce under it to ensure the company differentiates itself from its competitors.
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