Ford CEO Jim Farley says that the car company may adopt CarPlay Ultra after improvements in the future, and believes Google is doing a better job now.
The Ford Motor Company has previously committed to staying with the basic Apple CarPlay, but it won't be adopting the newer CarPlay Ultra. Speaking to Joanna Stern on the Decoder podcast, CEO Jim Farley says he's talked with Tim Cook many times about the future of integrated systems, but expects Ford may decide to make its own custom software.
"We don't like the execution in Round 1 of Ultra, but we're very committed to Apple," he said. "[However,] "I think Apple has to make a big decision... do they want control of the entire experience inside a vehicle?"
"If Apple wants to do that, I think we're going to have a tough time with that," he continued, "because then the digital experience gets really messy, and we'll have to decide between Google and Apple."
The issue for Farley is over Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS), technology that in part uses cameras and sensors to help improve vehicle safety. But Ford also has clients that require it to disable company cars over the weekend, or prevent access to vans overnight.
That's where Ford would expect to draw the line with Apple, it is not that the company thinks it can do better than the regular CarPlay.
"We don't think we can design an experience that's going to displace your phone," said Farley, "[although] there are things that Ford is working on to add on top of that digital experience of Google and CarPlay that will make it even better."
Farley thinks that Google has made a better platform for cars than Apple. That's specifically because Google has Google Automotive Services and, separately, Android Auto.
So Ford could theoretically add features to Android Auto, yet not become required to adopt the whole Google car platform.
Apple's early preview of what would eventually become CarPlay Ultra — image credit: Apple
"We just want it to be easy for customers," says Farley. "But if those companies want to control the vehicle, like, I just, I think that's a bridge too far."
Farley seems to expect Ford to have to decide to make its own systems, suggesting that it hasn't already. But he definitely rates other systems over CarPlay or Android Auto — and specifically Chinese systems.
Calling Huawei and Xiaomi "amazing," he says those companies make completely seamless systems. Farley laments that US firms didn't approach the auto industry in the same way.
While Farley still far from rules out integrating a future version of CarPlay Ultra, most of his arguments match those of manufacturers who have rejected Apple's technology. Executives from Renault have specifically said they've told Apple, "don't try to invade our own systems."
