FCA and Volkswagen offer six-month Apple Music trials to new car buyers

Apple is partnering with Fiat Chrysler Automobiles in the U.S. and Volkswagen in Europe to offer new car buyers six months of Apple Music with select models supporting the CarPlay platform, doubling the streaming service's normal trial period.

Revealed in separate announcements from FCA and Volkswagen, the new Apple Pay promotions go live in May to incentivize the purchase of new vehicles equipped with CarPlay-compatible infotainment systems.

In the U.S., FCA is taking its Apple Music deal live on May 1 for CarPlay-equipped Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep, Ram and FIAT models. The auto group's current stable of CarPlay capable vehicles sport the Uconnect system, which boasts an 8.4-inch touchscreen, GPS integration, backup and 360-degree camera views and more.

Certain FCA cars also feature premium Beats Audio systems, while others integrate speaker and amplifier hardware manufactured by Alpine and Harman Kardon.

As part of the Apple Music deal, which runs through April 30, 2019, buyers who are already subscribers to the service get three months for free.

Volkswagen is bringing the six-month Apple Music deal to new car buyers in Europe from May. A specific date was not provided, but it can be assumed the promotion will begin on or shortly after May 1.

Unlike FCA's offering, the Volkswagen deal is applicable only to that specific marque, not Volkswagen Group's other holdings, which include Audi, Porsche, SEAT and others. To take advantage of the incentive, customers must register with Car-Net, Volkswagen's connected car service that offers automated crash notifications, emergency call support, remote vehicle access and more.

As with the FCA promo, Volkswagen buyers who are already Apple Music subscribers will get three months of Apple's service for free.

Apple's CarPlay and Google's Android Auto are quickly becoming a duopoly standard in the in-car infotainment space, as carmakers abandon their own initiatives to build in support for the smartphone-powered technologies. Most recently, longtime holdout Toyota in January announced plans to deliver CarPlay to select 2019 models.