I think this makes a ton of business sense. They're only doing this on EV's, which have to be charged, and are likely concerned your car infotainment system is going to become a platform people buy things on they don't want to miss out on. Tesla has done it and because of this they have the best infotainment system in the industry. Frankly from what I can tell as well this is just editorialization, I don't think GM considers it a blunder and it seems like the smart move in my opinion (although it would have been smarter to start 10 years ago like Tesla did).
Do I think there a plausible business case for subscription infotainment systems? Sure. Do I think there's a plausible business case for subscription infotainment systems that includes ditching Apple CarPlay and Android Auto so as to force people into buying a GM subscription? Well, no, not really.
Tesla got away with not supporting CarPlay because they were one of the very few options available if you wanted an electric car. Rivian got away with it (for now, at least) because they were your only option if you wanted a high-end electric truck. Their customers were willing to sacrifice CarPlay because they had no real choice. Yes, Tesla's UI is nice-ish. That doesn't mean Tesla drivers don't want CarPlay support. Tons of them do, and it comes up regularly on online forums.
If you look at infotainment systems like BMW's latest iDrive iterations and Mercedes-Benz's MBUX, it's quite clear that they've improved a great deal in the past few years, lack of physical buttons aside. I'd hope that GM manages to do the same. Things have gotten better and the alternative to using CarPlay is no longer living with a nightmarish hellscape of a UI put together by sadistic designers --or maybe just traumatized ones, tormented by someone who forced them to ship terrible infotainment systems for years.
Despite that, consumers still love CarPlay and/or Android Auto and expect it to be available on their cars, with limited exceptions. Most people get in their cars, connect directly to CarPlay/Android Auto, and get on with their drive. When they have to use the native infotainment system, they do so with less frustration. But how many people do you think are just using a Bluetooth connection for their phone instead of CarPlay when it's right there? The answer is likely very, very few.
GM is betting that they'll get its customers to accept not having it like Tesla and Rivian customers have to. That's a hell of a gamble when everyone else will be shipping their own expanded line of EV models at the same time and price points as GM.
Not to be that guy but I don't think this is the case at all; cars cost ~25k and last a lot longer than your phone. Further your car will still work with your phone, although it may require a bit more setup when you first buy the car to install the apps you want. The big hurdle I see is that they'll have to develop an infotainment system that's on feature parity with your phone, which will be quite difficult and will take years; it's taken a decade for Tesla's system to get where it is today and convincing Netflix and other developers to get on was difficult
