Survey: Infotainment still sore spot for vehicle owners, but CarPlay remains on top

A new J.D. Power survey of vehicle owners has confirmed that infotainment systems are the worst. The only saving grace? Phone-based systems aren’t quite as bad, with Apple’s CarPlay coming out on top.

Vehicle satisfaction is up, but infotainment still low point

This latest J.D. Power survey notes that overall, 2024 has been a strong year for satisfaction among new vehicle owners. This is a reversal from the declines of the last two years.

However, there’s one key area that continues to be a pain point for owners: infotainment systems.

The report states:

One area that continues to put a damper on excitement across all vehicle fuel types is infotainment—one of the 10 factors on which the study is based. Despite satisfaction improving 5 points this year to 823, infotainment remains one of the lowest-scoring categories industry wide. While satisfaction with in-vehicle infotainment systems averages 805, it is higher among owners who use Android Auto (832) or Apple CarPlay (840). This shows that customers prefer to have the simplistic usability of their phone extended into their vehicle more so than what manufacturers are providing.

CarPlay ranks best, but it’s increasingly harder to find

CarPlay earning the highest customer satisfaction is nothing new. However, it’s noteworthy because there’s been a recent trend of decreasing CarPlay adoption among vehicle makers.

Last year GM decided to go its own way with infotainment. Rivian recently indicated it would never support Apple’s system. And of course, Tesla has come no closer to adopting CarPlay following years of rejecting the technology.

As we continue to await the arrival of next-gen CarPlay later this year, trends like these don’t bode well for Apple or its customers.

Despite all of that, the feedback gathered from nearly 100,000 new vehicle owners across the U.S. speaks loud and clear. Users want systems that work seamlessly with their smartphones, and especially ones that work like their phones.