Earlier this year we broke the news that BMW and MINI were working to bring CarPlay and Android Auto to its cars. Today BMW’s CEO Harold Krüger officially announced the initiative:

>The future of the automotive industry will be decided in the fields of vehicle connectivity and autonomous driving. Digitalization is transforming our entire business model – from customer touch points to mobility concepts and services, as well as to digitally-supported production.

>We want our customers to be able to make full use of their smartphone’s features in the car as well. Thus, we are going to integrate Apple’s ‘CarPlay’ and Google’s ‘Android Auto’ into our vehicles. Obviously, it is not in the interest of our customers to give third-party providers access to their data. For us, the protection of our customers’ data is top priority.

>The digitalization of mobility offers an exciting potential for growth in our industry. Over the past decades, the car has become a highly complex technological machine. So, whether you want to offer mobility “Made in Silicon Valley” or “Made in Bavaria” – the same regulatory requirements and challenges apply to everybody.

There’s no timetable yet but our sources tell us to look for the first fruits of this announcement in conjunction with the broader rollout of touch-screen iDrive.