Audi will offer Apple’s CarPlay-equipped vehicles beginning in 2015

German automaker Audi — a founding member of Google’s Android-based Open Automotive Alliance — on Thursday announced that it has undertaken “intensive dialog” with Apple to integrate the iPhone maker’s CarPlay system into new vehicles beginning in 2015. Audi, which until now did not have a publicly-disclosed relationship with Apple, says it has worked to separate the vehicular and entertainment functions of its in-car system and will add both CarPlay and Android Auto to future releases. Consumers will be able to choose between the platforms “at any time.” “Our customers want to be ‘always on’ and use the services they know from their smartphones in cars as well,” Audi board member Prof. Dr. Ulrich Hackenberg said in a release. “In this regard, we are working closely with leading companies like Google and Apple. In the future, customers will be able to use the functions available to them on their smartphones via the operating systems in their cars as well.”