Apple’s hopes of rapidly expanding CarPlay Ultra have taken a hit after several marquee brands confirmed they will not adopt the next-generation in-car interface, despite being named as future partners by the company. A new Financial Times report says Mercedes-Benz, Audi, Volvo Cars, Polestar, and Renault “have no plans” to integrate the software, joining BMW and others that already shunned the upgrade.
CarPlay Ultra, unveiled last month and already shipping in new Aston Martin models, extends far beyond the center-dash display. It can take over every screen, including the instrument cluster, climate controls, and driver assistance readouts, all styled to match an automaker’s brand. Apple said the deeper integration would offer drivers “the best of iPhone and the best of the car,” and it trumpeted “many other automakers” as upcoming partners, listing Audi, Mercedes, Volvo, and more during its launch.
That roster is now shrinking. Mercedes quietly bowed out last year, telling a podcast audience it would stick with its own MBUX system. Audi has since performed a similar U-turn, while Renault reportedly told Apple, “Don’t try to invade our own systems.” Executives and analysts quoted by the Financial Times say revenue is the primary concern: carmakers want to sell their own subscription-based infotainment and data services rather than hand the user interface and customer relationship to Apple.
Carplay Is Still Here
The retreat does not spell the end of CarPlay altogether. Standard CarPlay, available in 98 percent of new U.S. cars and used more than 600 million times daily, remains a must-have feature that most brands, including those rejecting Ultra, plan to keep offering. Porsche has reaffirmed it will introduce CarPlay Ultra in future models, and Hyundai, Kia, and Genesis are still on Apple’s partner list.
For Apple, the pushback underscores the tension between Silicon Valley’s ambitions and Detroit’s desire to safeguard data, dashboards, and recurring revenue. For drivers, it means the ultra-integrated CarPlay experience could stay a luxury-tier novelty for some time, while the familiar, phone-mirrored version continues to dominate mass-market vehicles.
