Apple Car Production Again Linked to Kia Motor's US Plant in Georgia

[Mac Prodigy]

Those quotes aren't from your first link, which is the only one I looked at. After I saw that the first one was completely irrelevant to the comment to which you were replying, I decided not to click on your other links.

But here, since you're a big fan of doing the work on your own, why don't you look up Consumer Reports reliability survey results from the past 5 years, and then you'll see that Kia and Hyundai have been fairly reliable. Are they the most reliable brands? No, but they're usually in the top 10, and up there with the likes of Honda, Subaru, and Nissan. Ultimately, all car manufacturers, even Toyota, have recalls, so citing recalls isn't necessarily proof that a brand is unreliable.

2016 Hyundai Sonata Hybrid with 2.0-liter inline-4 Nu engine. 2015-2016 Hyundai Veloster with 1.6-liter inline-4 Gamma gasoline direct injection engine. 2016 < 6 years from 2021. Also, the other two articles are from 2018 to 2021. The overall range form the three articles is 2012 to 2021. JD Power and Consumer reports are bought and paid for. The proof is in the pudding.

 

[Justanotherfanboy]

So, what's the problem with Hyundai/Kia being the OEM for Apple Car? One word: PRESTIGE. The Apple Car built by Hyundai/Kia could be twice as good as Tesla, but it will be seen as uncool in the eyes of Apple fanboys. And that is the biggest problem with this rumor.

I think where your thinking is broken is in assuming Apple is chasing the low margin market of consumer auto sales (WILDLY unlikely!!).
If Apple is building out a fleet of self-driving cars for an incredibly lucrative subscription service (HIGHLY likely!!), then the target market is absolutely not- “people that purchase luxury vehicles & look down their noses at others”; it’s people that are part of the next-generation... and see having a vehicle on call at all times preferable to ownership and all that entails.

 

[Mac Prodigy]

Apple isn't like Louis Vuitton. Their products aren't exclusively expensive. Somehow the average person in the US has a newer iPhone than me, and I'm not below average income. Every poverty-level family I know, each member has an iPhone 11 or later.

That's due to the monthly payment plans, which are now extending out to 30 months. You stop the monthly payment option, and make everyone pay in full, you will see far less people with higher end iPhones.

 

[jlc1978]

They make wannabe luxury cars "inspired" by the German brands and FWD-default SUVs. They used to run ads like "has the same kind of paint as a car worth 3X as much," advertising the Genesis whose body design was ripped from the Mercedes E class to the point of being often mistaken on sight. They're knockoff producers. Not a cool company (or rather, mostly-conjoined set of two companies) for Apple to be working with.

Unfortunately a lot of car manufacturers have gone for the "fluid" look so they all start to look the same; although some bucked the trend. BMW has decided butt ugly buck tooth grilles are the answer.

If you want an economy car, a Honda or Toyota is a smarter choice. No need to be pretend-pretentious. And the Kia Stinger isn't all that fast in modern terms, in fact it's comparable in acceleration to the 2006 Maserati QP I bought used (which I never considered very fast either), plus it only comes in automatic. Might as well get an electric car. Teslas are very quick.

Tesla's are quick but their speed degrades significantly with repeated fast runs. For example C&D found the model S' 0-60 time went from 2.5 to 5 to 6 over 15 runs; the Taycan's from 2.5 to 3 over the same 15 and the drop came after the 9th run, not like the Tesla which went to 5 after 2 runs.

 

[DanTSX]

Did you quote me?

Maybe. No clue at this point. The quick editor box is very clumsy on my IPP when trying to trim text to a specific point.

 

[hot-gril]

So, what's the problem with Hyundai/Kia being the OEM for Apple Car? One word: PRESTIGE. The Apple Car built by Hyundai/Kia could be twice as good as Tesla, but it will be seen as uncool in the eyes of Apple fanboys. And that is the biggest problem with this rumor.

I think you're forgetting that Apple makes a credit card that's the epitome of coupon-clipping. 20% off your next Burger King purchase or whatever. That's not even tech-sector.

 

[hot-gril]

Unfortunately a lot of car manufacturers have gone for the "fluid" look so they all start to look the same; although some bucked the trend. BMW has decided butt ugly buck tooth grilles are the answer.



Tesla's are quick but their speed degrades significantly with repeated fast runs. For example C&D found the model S' 0-60 time went from 2.5 to 5 to 6 over 15 runs; the Taycan's from 2.5 to 3 over the same 15 and the drop came after the 9th run, not like the Tesla which went to 5 after 2 runs.

Yes, what I'm referring to was a few years ago. As of recently, BMW makes horribly ugly cars across the board, Mercedes isn't making great designs either, and Maseratis look kinda like Chryslers now. They're mostly all automatic too, negating the fun of an ICE car while still being worse than electric. If I were in the market for a new luxury car, it'd not be any of those, and I'd just get a Tesla.

I didn't know about the repeated runs. That's interesting. Though, a driver on the road probably wouldn't be doing that. Sounds more relevant on a track where you'd be alternating between braking and high throttle at all times.

 

[DanTSX]

They make wannabe luxury cars "inspired" by the high-end European brands. They make those FWD-default "SUV"s. They made a clone of the Mercedes sedans called the Genesis, exterior design copied so hard that people confuse them on sight, then ran ads saying "has the same kind of paint as a car 3X its price." Kia/Hyundai is a knockoff producer. I guess they gave up on trying to copy Honda and went for pseudo-luxury cars instead. Not a cool company (or rather, mostly-conjoined set of two companies) for Apple to be working with.

If you want an economy car, a Honda or Toyota is a smarter choice. No need to be pretend-pretentious. And the Kia Stinger isn't all that fast in modern terms, in fact it's comparable in acceleration to the 2006 Maserati QP I bought used (which I never considered very fast either), plus it only comes in automatic. Might as well get a Tesla, which would be faster. Speaking of Maserati, that's where Kia found the rear-end design for the Stinger, the post-2010 QPs.

Mercedes sales are now loaded up with a bunch of disposable FWD default “SUV”s and sedans.

Most consumers (even premium and lux brands) have no idea which wheels drive their car.

Genesis is following the Lexus formula from the 1990’s. They are really nice. Their owners are generally very pleased with the vehicle. People pretending to be Mercedes benz owners just go buy a used one because their resale is terrible.

Why are we drag racing these cars? I don’t see Apple selling a notably quick car. Elon has a bit of a screw loose and likes to be a bit of a rebel. Of course he is going to sell options for speed nuts like us.

I guess we are trying to figure out where Apple is going to try to place this car in the auto market. It is surprising to see people with hopes that this will be a $100k+ car. This thread is particularly interesting as it is seeming to bring out a lot of insecurities and guarded desires (not pointing fingers at you) regarding what people want out of an Apple car, and where it should place in the market. I’m still going with a nerdpod on wheels that Silicon Valley types will consider cheap, and the rest of the world a “premium” brand along the likes of volvo, acura, lincoln, tesla. Not a lux brand or performance brand.

 

[hot-gril]

I don't know what Kia you looked at, but there is a reason why they give you 7 years / 100,000 miles warranty. And that's not because their cars fall apart quick, but quite the opposite.

That and the leases aren't very expensive, suggesting the cars do hold up. Their reputation for unreliability comes from decades ago and is probably outdated by now.

 

[DanTSX]

I think you're forgetting that Apple makes a credit card that's the epitome of coupon-clipping. 20% off your next Burger King purchase or whatever. That's not even tech-sector.

It’s 1-3% cash back, and Goldman Sachs “makes” it.

I bought Burger King on my Apple Card today in my Lexus (a pretend benz).

Two Tesla owners close to me used Apple Card for down payments.

The Apple Card / Apple Cash / Apple Pay scheme is terrific for consumers., and even better for shareholders.

Why are we talking about coupon clipping?

 

[1rottenapple]

Ok so what do you think the apple car will be called? Will it have an apple-like spin?

 

[hot-gril]

Why are we drag racing these cars? I don’t see Apple selling a notably quick car. Elon has a bit of a screw loose and likes to be a bit of a rebel. Of course he is going to sell options for speed nuts like us.

Maybe it's meant for Silicon Valley, haha. Most freeway onramps here are a tight circle then a tiny runway to get up to speed, usually uphill. Most cars, flooring it, can only get to 30MPH by the time they merge. It's a terrible design, and people already on the freeway still drive 80MPH in the rightmost lane for some reason.

 

[1rottenapple]

It’s 1-3% cash back, and Goldman Sachs “makes” it.

I bought Burger King on my Apple Card today in my Lexus (a pretend benz).

Two Tesla owners close to me used Apple Card for down payments.

The Apple Card / Apple Cash / Apple Pay scheme is terrific for consumers., and even better for shareholders.

Why are we talking about coupon clipping?

so they used for their downpayment to cash back?

 

[DanTSX]

so they used for their downpayment to cash back?

Yes.

 

[hot-gril]

It’s 1-3% cash back, and Goldman Sachs “makes” it.

I bought Burger King on my Apple Card today in my Lexus (a pretend benz).

Two Tesla owners close to me used Apple Card for down payments.

The Apple Card / Apple Cash / Apple Pay scheme is terrific for consumers., and even better for shareholders.

Why are we talking about coupon clipping?

I'm not saying it's bad, it's just not cool and not what Apple is known for. Most of the deals are on low-end stuff.

 

[1rottenapple]

I'm not saying it's bad, it's just not cool and not what Apple is known for. Most of the deals are on low-end stuff.

wish they would offer discounts on useful stuff like trader joes or amazon, or aldi and target. They focus on hipster places like panera bread ew.

 

[Apple_Robert]

Ok so what do you think the apple car will be called? Will it have an apple-like spin?

The base model will be called AppleJuiced.

 

[jlc1978]

Yes, what I'm referring to was a few years ago. As of recently, BMW makes horribly ugly cars across the board, Mercedes isn't making great designs either, and Maseratis look kinda like Chryslers now. They're mostly all automatic too, negating the fun of an ICE car while still being worse than electric. If I were in the market for a new luxury car, it'd not be any of those, and I'd just get a Tesla.

Yea, unfortunately the manual is going the way of the dinosaur, at least in the US. I'm tempted to do a manual to auto swap in my car but haven't decided if I want to pull the trigger. I miss the 6 speed in my late, lamented e90.

I didn't know about the repeated runs. That's interesting. Though, a driver on the road probably wouldn't be doing that. Sounds more relevant on a track where you'd be alternating between braking and high throttle at all times.

They do multiple runs and average them out to account for slight differences in driver actions, road condition, etc. rather than rely on 1 run. Tesla's battery management software must be somewhat aggressive, per C&D Tesla was looking into tweaks. My guess is they're prioritizing range over performance as the battery drains to avoid drivers getting stranded way before they go near the advertised mileage; plus it probably adds some miles in normal driving by aggressively managing the battery.

 

[ctucci]

Kia have upped their design game. The Stinger's cool, the Telluride is getting good reviews, and I can't help but think they'd update their inside finish and materials game for this. What if they went to the less expensive but design conscious Kia, and pulled off a value proposition like the M1 mini is...

 

[Digital_Sousaphone]

I last test drove a Kia SUV in 2015, but I hope Apple improves their quality. (Maybe they've done so by now.). The SUV didn't compare to a Lexus, let alone Mercedes, or even the Ford Explorer.

I'd definitely give it a try though.


Edit:

Since some people missed the point below - the rumor seems untrue anyway, but:

The point is that Apple is NOT a Kia class product. Kia is down market, known for their unreliability, poor build quality, and low price. Apple is the opposite (except sometimes unreliable until the x.x.1 version). Would I give an Apple/Kia car a test drive? Yes, because of the build quality of most of the Apple products from Macs to iPhones to iPads. One would hope that if this is true, Apple would require a Lexus/Mercedes/Porsche build quality from Kia before being affiliated with it.

Would I buy one that had a rattling doors and would rust in 2 years? No. Having an Apple Car with the build quality from Kia 6 years ago would tarnish the Apple brand and be a disaster. Doing otherwise would be like Apple going to Fero to build iPhone MTN Fero A4001 to run iOS on a $30 phone with a 1MP camera and plastic exterior that could survive a 1 inch drop but no more with Face ID taking 15 seconds to scan.

It should be noted that from what others in the thread have said, Kia has improved, which would be great. The more competition the better. I hope they have great build quality. I don't care about the brand, I care about it being reliable and safe.

Only 3 letters necessary to make your ridiculous argument null and void.

AMD.

Apple will partner with whomever best suits them even if it means using inferior products.

 

[DonutHands]

No other name in manufacturing conjures feelings of quality and craftsmanship like KIA.

 

[Johns12]

God, so many Apple consumers have become elitist misguided snobs. It's sad.

 

[hot-gril]

Only 3 letters necessary to make your ridiculous argument null and void.

AMD.

Apple will partner with whomever best suits them even if it means using inferior products.

But Apple is making their own graphics now, so maybe the AMD partnership won't last. And yeah, it's annoying that all I can stick in my Mac Pro is an RX580 or a Vega if I want Apple's support.

 

[PC_tech]

next week, Samsung announce plans to have Hyundai build Galaxy electric cars.
after scoffing at Apple for doing so.

Samsung will rush a folding car to market... but it will have hinge issues from road dust they didnt have in test labs and a few battery fires due to super fast charger... each car will have a plastic laminated windscreen and only after a few people peel them off will it be revealed the coating was meant to stay in place. and you'll get free in ear noise cancelling pods which will no doubt add to driver inattention.

Samsung has been making cars for years

 

[1rottenapple]

Yea, unfortunately the manual is going the way of the dinosaur, at least in the US. I'm tempted to do a manual to auto swap in my car but haven't decided if I want to pull the trigger. I miss the 6 speed in my late, lamented e90.



They do multiple runs and average them out to account for slight differences in driver actions, road condition, etc. rather than rely on 1 run. Tesla's battery management software must be somewhat aggressive, per C&D Tesla was looking into tweaks. My guess is they're prioritizing range over performance as the battery drains to avoid drivers getting stranded way before they go near the advertised mileage; plus it probably adds some miles in normal driving by aggressively managing the battery.

I had the same thought about Manual but you know they will go the way of the dodo. I thought I would never buy a non-manual car lol At least you can have classic cars that are manual transmission.