GM Creates New Position for Software Division, Hires Apple Cloud's Abbot
On Tuesday, General Motors confirmed Apple’s Mike Abbott as the executive vice president of its Software division — an important role considering that the automaker is betting large on shifting revenue toward connectivity. The company has been stressing the importance of integrated mobile services for years and recently announced it would be dumping Apple CarPlay so that drivers would be required to interface with its proprietary operating system.
Abbott headed the team responsible for developing the brunt of Apple’s cloud-based services including. If you’ve ever used iCloud, iMessage, Apple Mail, or Private Relay, then you’re familiar with his work — or at least the products that core infrastructure ended up producing.
This new executive role at GM was crafted specifically for Abbot and to ensure that the automaker’s Ultifi software platform continues to evolve into something profitable. As more manufacturers move toward the concept of “software-defined vehicles” (often to the chagrin of consumers and the entire right-to-repair movement) coding will become increasingly important.
“I'm a product person at heart, so as the transformation of transportation quickly accelerates, I know that software is the catalyst for redefining experiences for consumers and enterprises like never before," Abbott stated. "GM is playing a pivotal role in this shift and I'm excited to join the team and bring my experience in software to bear to not only take advantage of the massive opportunities that lay ahead for the company but to help change the world."
General Motors wants to start leveraging subscription services until it becomes a meaningful source of revenue. Like most brands, it’s also keen on the idea of offering over-the-air updates to vehicles in lieu of on-site repairs. EVs are allegedly supposed to help with this, as they’re mechanically less complicated than combustion-engine vehicles.
We’ve been talking about it for years at this point. But the fact remains that this is a fundamentally different way for the industry to operate. Carmakers want to be less like traditional manufacturers selling tangible goods and more like the giant tech conglomerates focused on services/data. Considering how Big Tech’s market capitalization has been over the last few years, this could have been a colossal misstep.
However, a lot of companies are already committed to the cause and don’t appear interested in turning back. For better or worse, GM’s leadership has a pretty clear picture of what the future of the industry looks like in their heads and they seem committed toward bringing it to fruition.
"We have entered the next phase of our technology driven transformation focused on rapidly scaling new EV models and our Ultifi software platform, which will drive faster innovation and enable new and exciting customer experiences," General Motors CEO Mary Barra said in a statement. "Mike's experience as a founder and entrepreneur coupled with his proven track record creating and delivering some of the market's most compelling software-defined solutions for consumers and companies make him an excellent fit at GM."
[Image: Linda Parton/Shutterstock]
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A staunch consumer advocate tracking industry trends and regulation. Before joining TTAC, Matt spent a decade working for marketing and research firms based in NYC. Clients included several of the world’s largest automakers, global tire brands, and aftermarket part suppliers. Dissatisfied with the corporate world and resentful of having to wear suits everyday, he pivoted to writing about cars. Since then, that man has become an ardent supporter of the right-to-repair movement, been interviewed on the auto industry by national radio broadcasts, driven more rental cars than anyone ever should, participated in amateur rallying events, and received the requisite minimum training as sanctioned by the SCCA. Handy with a wrench, Matt grew up surrounded by Detroit auto workers and managed to get a pizza delivery job before he was legally eligible. He later found himself driving box trucks through Manhattan, guaranteeing future sympathy for actual truckers. He continues to conduct research pertaining to the automotive sector as an independent contractor and has since moved back to his native Michigan, closer to where the cars are born. A contrarian, Matt claims to prefer understeer — stating that front and all-wheel drive vehicles cater best to his driving style.
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Is there a single model that GM makes that is so good that people will look past the fact it does not have Apple CarPlay/Android Auto? I think once they remove this, the fleet/rental crowd will be in an uproar. The die hard GM people are not a large enough group to keep them in the game without one of the top 3 must have features for buyers in the prime demographics. I know some of the fan boys/gals on here will be saying it is not a must have...but im talking about the vast majority of buyers who are entering there prime car buying years. This is a massive mistake. I know plenty of buyers who will literally filter out cars that are missing Carplay/AA.
I have watched people at rental counters and service lanes reject cars without carplay...they would rather drive a versa or accent with carplay/AA instead of a loaded SUV without it (like a previous gen Pathfinder that never had it available)
GM has an interesting strategy here, let’s see if it pays off for them.