(Yicai Global) June 20 -- Apple recently began hiring auto engineers in China in a move that may be aimed at helping its 14 partners deploy a new generation of the CarPlay system in the local market, according to a Chinese auto executive.

Apple is hiring in Beijing, Shanghai and Shenzhen, per an advert on its website dated May 30. The roles entail providing integration support for automotive partners and helping developers complete Apple's system certification.

At its recent Worldwide Developers Conference, Apple unveiled the latest CarPlay interactive system for which Audi, Land Rover, Mercedes-Benz, Porsche and 10 other auto brands will become early partners.

Compared with the previous version, which mainly mirrored the smartphone screen, the new system can directly control in-car functions such as the radio, air-conditioning, seat heating and ventilation. It can also adjust the dashboard interface to suit the user.

The new CarPlay is essentially different from Huawei’s Harmony OS, AliOS developed by Banma Network Technology, a joint venture between Alibaba and SAIC Motor, and other smart cockpit systems that directly integrate hardware and software. They are unique on-board systems with customized development of the base operating system.

So some industry professionals are not optimistic about such a partnership model. The president of a smart connected vehicle maker told Yicai Global that the new generation CarPlay system requires automakers to allow Apple access to underlying data, which would be like handing over their ‘soul’ to the US tech giant.

“Key foreign car brands, including BMW, Volkswagen and Toyota, aren’t among the partners because they haven’t yet bet on Apple’s CarPlay,” the person pointed out. “The cockpit system is too important to finished vehicle firms, so vendors with some clout won’t cede control of cockpit systems unless they have to.”

CarPlay is unlikely to become mainstream in the Chinese market in the next two to three years, he added.

Editors: Liao Shumin, Peter Thomas