CarPlay and Android Auto will be in Volkswagen cars this year
At CES this week, Volkswagen finally announced its plans for Apple's CarPlay and Google's Android Auto: both will be available later this year. The technologies will work on VW's MIB II dash electronics …
Context & Ripple Effects
Volkswagen used CES to commit to both smartphone-mirroring standards at once — the first cars with the feature reached showrooms by mid-2015, running on the MIB II dash electronics rather than a new head unit. That made VW one of the early mass-market adopters after years of proprietary infotainment.
The announcement set off a domino run across Detroit and Munich: Ford promised CarPlay and Android Auto standard on all Sync 3 vehicles for 2017 with 2016 models upgradeable, Fiat Chrysler followed into Uconnect integration the same year, while BMW held out — only committing to Android Auto in mid-2020 after leading with Apple CarPlay.
First-order effects
- Buyers of 2015 Volkswagens get phone-native navigation and apps on MIB II hardware instead of VW's own interface, making the dash electronics a selling point at dealerships this year.
- Apple and Google gain dashboard real estate in one of the world's largest carmakers without building any vehicle hardware themselves.
Second-order effects
- Ford, Fiat Chrysler, and eventually BMW were pushed to match rather than differentiate — once a mainstream brand like VW adopted both platforms, skipping them became a spec-sheet liability that BMW paid for by lagging five years on Android Auto.
Third-order effects
- If the pattern holds, carmakers cede the app layer to the phone ecosystems and compete on driving hardware and safety features instead — infotainment becomes a licensed utility, with Apple and Google controlling the software relationship drivers touch most often.
The trend: Automakers are abandoning proprietary infotainment for licensed smartphone mirroring, turning Apple and Google into de facto suppliers of the car's primary interface.