General Motors and Ford took a page out of Apple's book, or smartphone, when at the past month's Consumer Electronics Show they invited outside software developers to create applications for their vehicles.
How this generates revenue is not yet clear. For Apple, third-party apps are a significant source of profits.
The consumer electronics giant keeps 30% of app sales and gives 70% back to developers. Apple has booked $5 billion in revenue since launching the App Store in 2008.
General Motors North America President Mark Reuss said in an interview that the automaker would be willing to share revenue with app makers.
Source
Detroit Free Press