Toyota sold 10.23 million vehicles in 2014, beating out General Motors and Volkswagen for the title of World's Largest Automaker. But that isn't enough for Apple, which apparently doesn't consider Toyota to be a "major car brand."
During today's Watch/MacBook/Aluminium-Fetishization-fest, Apple CEO Tim Cook said on stage that "every major car brand has committed to delivering CarPlay" and noted that 40 models will be sold with the software by the end of the year.
Toyota isn't one of them, and has said so, repeatedly.
"We may all eventually wind up there, but right now we prefer to use our in-house proprietary platforms for those kinds of functions," said John Hanson, Toyota's advanced technology communications manager, just last month.
CarPlay was announced nearly a year ago (to the day) as a way for iPhone users running iOS 8 to connect with infotainment systems and quasi-mirror a stripped-out, car-friendly version of the operating system on screen. It's been slow to roll out, as automakers rushed to update ancient dash technology to interface with the new system.
The only automakers shipping CarPlay-compatible systems are Ferrari and Mercedes-Benz, but a raft of others are continuing to promise larger roll-out later this year.
Contact the author at damon@jalopnik.com.
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