The car industry A/B tested selling a car with and without CarPlay

cars · August 20, 2026 · 3 min read

A mates years ago, GM made waves by saying that soon, each their caller cars would beryllium wholly free of Apple's CarPlay and Android Auto support, alternatively opting for the "Android Automotive OS" successful their cars.

Admittedly, I'm a immense instrumentality of CarPlay for basal information reasons and really it lets you perceive aliases nonstop texts without ever having to look astatine aliases touch your phone, truthful I was not happy to perceive this news. I retrieve when this was first announced for Chevy EVs and when it was later expanded to each their cars successful the early and the resounding consequence was that car buyers were PISSED.

Chevy claimed they were doing this for privateness reasons, that nary of your driving aliases telephone information would spell to Apple immoderate longer, but alternatively it would each spell to Google (who would apt stock it pinch General Motors, the owners of Chevy).

Chevy seemed to disregard the uproar from their fans and went up pinch it anyway, and arsenic acold arsenic I tin tell, each 2025 Chevy electrical vehicles shipped pinch the Android Auto OS and don't interface pinch your telephone beyond bluetooth aliases fto you spot CarPlay aliases AndroidAuto apps connected your dash.

The Honda Prologue EV

The accidental A/B test

Honda, overmuch for illustration Toyota and Subaru, didn't person a robust EV investigation and improvement programme and benignant of lagged down their rival car companies connected trading EVs, truthful they collaborated pinch different car brands to rebadge, rebrand, and resell versions of cars made by different companies.

One lawsuit successful constituent is the Honda Prologue EV. It's a business betwixt Honda and Chevrolet, wherever the Prologue is fundamentally a Chevy Blazer EV pinch Honda badges, flimsy ocular differences successful the sheetmetal and interior, but each the underpinnings are consecutive up Chevy. Even though the keys opportunity Honda connected a Prologue, it's a General Motors cardinal creation pinch a Honda logo complete it.

But 1 large quality the Prologue has from the Blazer it is based connected is this: it includes Apple CarPlay and Android Auto integration.

The car manufacture accidentally did thing I've ever wanted to see, which was to merchandise fundamentally the aforesaid car nether 2 brands and models, pinch 1 awesome consumer-facing difference. It's benignant of singular really bully of a experimental creation this is, since the capacity and driving characteristics of some cars are identical, but drivers successful 1 exemplary get a awesome telephone integration the others do not.

So really did that activity retired for Chevy?

You tin look up existent income numbers successful GM and Honda's yearly reports of income they're required to people to investors, and present are the results for the past 2.5 years they've some been sold successful the US:

Note: The 2026 figures screen January done June and are not full-year totals.

The past file connected the correct is the astir telling. For the years these cars were sold together, the Honda outsold the Blazer by 43%, 73%, and 166% successful each clip period. Today successful 2026, group are buying a Honda Prologue complete 1 and a half times much often than the Chevy Blazer EV the Prologue is based on.

Of the full number of EV income betwixt the 2 brands, here's a chart of really galore sold were Hondas (orange) and really galore were Chevys (blue):

Give consumers a choice, and they'll return the champion option

Drivers want much options for really they interact pinch their devices, and they are progressively preferring to bargain a Chevy covered successful Honda badges that comes pinch telephone integrations alternatively of buying the existent Chevy the Honda is based on, which lacks it.

I wonderment if Chevy will ever backpedal from their prime to region CarPlay and Android Auto? Drivers look to beryllium voting pinch their dollars connected the question, and they're voting favorably successful 1 guidance connected this issue.

Now that the marketplace has spoken large and clear, will General Motors listen?

(This station inspired by a toot my pal Pat wrote months agone that made maine want to look up the latest income figures today)