Kia, Honda & Lincoln preparing new vehicles equipped for Apple CarPlay

In the first half of 2016, three more vehicles — from Kia, Honda, and Lincoln — are set to expand the range of models supporting Apple's CarPlay platform.

Kia's entry will be the 2017 Forte5, a hatchback equipped with a 7-inch touchscreen. The 2017 Ridgeline will be Honda's first pickup truck in years, and have the option of an 8-inch touchscreen. Lincoln is joining the fray with its latest luxury sedan, the 2017 Continental.

2017 Honda Ridgeline

As is now standard on many CarPlay-ready products, all three vehicles will also support Android Auto.

CarPlay support has been slowly gaining momentum since last summer, when more pppular carmakers finally began making concrete announcements and their first rollouts. In the past few weeks, thanks to the Consumer Electronics Show and the North American International Auto Show, that pace has increased. The most notable addition may be Ford, which is bringing the platform to all of its Sync 3-equipped 2017 models.

2017 Lincoln Continental

A challenge to user adoption has been the fact that with very few exceptions, it hasn't been possible to update existing vehicles with CarPlay without paying for an expensive aftermarket dash receiver. Many people may therefore end up waiting years to try the technology.

7 Comments

Deeeds 8 Years · 29 comments

About 8 years ago

Retrospectively added to this list were their forerunners:

Ford Edsel

Nissan Altima

PT Cruiser

Ok, that's an exaggeration. But it seems the point's obviousness needs to be made clearer than mud.

zroger73 13 Years · 787 comments

AppleInsider said:

The 2017 Ridgeline will be Honda's first pickup truck in years, and have the option of an 8-inch touchscreen.

The wording of this articles makes it sounds like it's been "ages" since Honda manufactured a pickup. The 2014 Ridgeline ended production in September 2014. Dealers still had new inventory for a period after production ended. In reality, it has been less than 16 months since you could purchase a new Honda Ridgeline. Barring any setbacks, the 2017 Ridgeline is planned to go into production by the Spring of 2016 making the gap between purchase availability more than one year, but less than two years. Hopefully, the Ridgeline's CarPlay-compatible infotainment system will offer a better CarPlay experience than the systems Honda is using the 2016 Accord and Civic.

Kurtis Evans 8 Years · 1 comment

I remain incredibly disappointed in Honda for not making their '14 and '15 models CarPlay compatible. We have a Civic and Fit and I refuse to spend money on their app, since it's a steaming pile that hasn't worked right in years. Because of these issues, my current Hondas will be my last.

Kurtis Evans said:

I remain incredibly disappointed in Honda for not making their '14 and '15 models CarPlay compatible. We have a Civic and Fit and I refuse to spend money on their app, since it's a steaming pile that hasn't worked right in years. Because of these issues, my current Hondas will be my last.

Honda frustrated many by rescinding their pledge to support CarPlay in some '14s and '15s. Some owners claim to have been selected as beta testers, but apparently the results weren't positive. While still a safe overall choice for practical and reliable vehicles with very good resale value, Honda quality has decreased while the bottom of the pile has improved over the last several years. The playing field is leveling - buying a Ford no longer guarantees you a rattle trap and buying a Honda no longer guarantees bullet-proof reliability. Historically, Honda has stayed behind the technology curve and stuck with simple, proven technologies. It seems they are trying too hard to catch up to the latest in technology and styling trends with undesired consequences such as awkward appearances and infotainment issues.

wood1208 10 Years · 2939 comments

Ask yourself two questions. How often you replace vehicle and is phone connectivity important in your life ? My answer is I replace car more than 10 years apart(my oldest running car is 1992 Toyota Camry) so I will not buy my next/new vehicle unless it has deep phone integration(CarPlay/AndroidAuto) with it's touchscreen dashboard/console/infotainment center..If I buy a new car without good phone connectivity than have to wait another 10+ years to buy a car with such phone features in car. I rather wait a year or so to make sure features are implemented like from Phone's Map/Navigation, text/call,Music,Calendar/Reminder,Door lock/unlock/status,Car location,starting car, etc.to Car Infotainment center.