Apple Could Use Contract Manufacturers Like Foxconn or Magna for Apple Car Assembly

[neutralguy]

I am going to skip the car and buy Apple dishwasher when they start to make it.

 

[LordVic]

Their car production facilities are in Graz, Austria since that is where Steyer is located; whom they acquired in 2001. Still a great success story. I wonder if they will open a plant in Canada to make cars as well, such as the rumored Apple car.

I'm not sure they've ever really had the desire too. There are a lot of other car manufacturing plants already here. Toyota, GM, Ford and Honda already produce cars in Southern Ontario. Likely all getting supplied somehow via Magna's parts lineup. Building a new car factory is also really expensive in Ontario. Several billion at least just to get up and running. GM in Oshawa just got a 2+ billion cash injection to transform into an EV factory too. So i'm not sure Magna wants to jump into that space here

But who knows.

 

[VanNess]

The Apple “car” is not a physical car.

Car is used to describe the user experience for a combined revolutionary mapping and virtual reality tech where you can “drive” anywhere in the world and experience any location as if you were physically there.

The iPhone - a screen with buttons on the side
The iPad - a bigger screen with buttons on the side
Apple Watch - a small screen with buttons on the side
Apple Car - a giant screen with buttons on the side.

 

[ericwn]

And yet it took them 6 years to design a new motherboard for well established chips from Intel to get a Mac Pro out the door in a reasonable amount of time. If any other tech company took 6 years to replace an old motherboard design that proved to be a dead end they'd be out of business. We've seen this before with iOS and MacOS. Borrow one team to finish the other teams work, which then delays the work of the first team. I honestly don't think Apple can do a lot at the same time, they seem to borrow people from other teams all the time indicating to me that while profits were high they just don't staff up to cover all their product lines.

Well, they certainly do more than just have engineers around, especially in those other areas of business. It may work here, it may not work there.

But don’t discard the entire business just because we don’t feel that their Mac Pro team is getting enough oxygen. Goes to show the competence in that field though.

 

[Fudders]

Finally someone reputable announcing what we are all thinking. All indications are leading to Foxconn or Magna. Why not go with what has proven hugely successful in the past?

successful at killing themselves as well. Yep. Go with Foxconn

 

[farewelwilliams]

tesla looking more and more likely

 

[shplock]

Finally someone reputable announcing what we are all thinking. All indications are leading to Foxconn or Magna. Why not go with what has proven hugely successful in the past?

Because Magna will only be able to produce a very small amount of card which will not allow Apple to recover the insane costs that car designing and making incurs.
Also Foxconn make iPhones etc, they are not experienced or set up to make cars.
This is the dumbest idea Apple ever had. Sorry but it will be a total flop!

They are competing and searching for areas to grow as they are responsible for growth for their shareholders.

A company with more than 100000 employees can easily focus on multiple fields at once.

True however they re not focussing correctly. Take a look at project Titan. They keep changing it's goals, they keep changing who runs it, firing staff then rehiring then firing...again!
They are the corporate equivalent of ADHD!
I wish them well but they will not make a success of the car, they are way out of their league here!

They have excellent leadership and are successful beyond believe of many. Let’s not assume that they are desperate as they clearly approach all their businesses with great care.

The obvious failure of project Titan says otherwise and says that they are all over the place as they keep hiring staff then firing all of them as well as constantly changing who runs the project.
Not a good sign, trust me.

This makes no sense. They've continued to do what they do best. They did it to the tune of a record setting year in 2020. While continuing to do the best, they explored other avenues. Are you implying their exploration of other avenues somehow negatively affected them "continuing doing what they do best"? I hope not because there's no evidence that supports that idea.

Actually the fact that project Titan is all over the place and such a total failure Eno matter what the blind fans say is proof that Apple can no longer come out with new and great products in a timely or successful fashion.
Sorry but the truth is as the truth is.

Magna does quality work for others as I said in an earlier post.

At vastly reduced numbers as I said earlier. Apple need volume not a handful of cars produced each year otherwise it WILL be a MASSIVE flop in the eyes of the media and Wall Street.

If Apple goes to Foxconn and fail to capture EV market because of low production yield, that may be the end for Tim Cook.

Magna is a good call, but I really think they should just go with Kia because they are the best option

Not if Apple wants high volumes.

 

[stw]

Their car production facilities are in Graz, Austria since that is where Steyer is located; whom they acquired in 2001. Still a great success story. I wonder if they will open a plant in Canada to make cars as well, such as the rumored Apple car.

Steyr or Steyr-Daimler-Puch.
Magna is owned by a Canadian family but the founder was born in Austria not far from Graz. Magna does not only production but also development eg. 4WD (see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pinzgauer_High-Mobility_All-Terrain_Vehicle).

 

[7493920]

tesla looking more and more likely

I wouldn't think so since they are already hitting the ceiling of their manufacturing capacity.

 

[jlc1978]

At vastly reduced numbers as I said earlier. Apple need volume not a handful of cars produced each year otherwise it WILL be a MASSIVE flop in the eyes of the media and Wall Street.

Depends. A showcase low volume supercar would turn heads. The on to Formula E...

 

[jlc1978]

Steyr or Steyr-Daimler-Puch.
Magna is owned by a Canadian family but the founder was born in Austria not far from Graz.

Yea, the were Steyr-Daimler-Puch until the acquisition. They have been involved in a lot of interesting vehicles, such as the G Wagon, Pinzgauer and Mopeds. The Steyr-Daimler-Puch name lives on in various spinoffs prior to becoming Magna-Steyr.

Magna does not only production but also development eg. 4WD (see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pinzgauer_High-Mobility_All-Terrain_Vehicle).

It is a good blend of Magna's products and Steyr's production line.

 

[farewelwilliams]

I wouldn't think so since they are already hitting the ceiling of their manufacturing capacity.

Another couple of billion dollars thrown at Tesla, they'll start building a new factory. Elon already mentioned a possibility of another gigafactory in USA (possibly east coast).

 

[techwhiz]

I wouldn't think so since they are already hitting the ceiling of their manufacturing capacity.

AND not to mention Tesla is crappy at building cars.
Tesla is notorious for paint problems, irregular panel gaps and other issues which affect appearance.
GM, FCA, Prod, BMW, Merc all do a better job at consistent quality than Tesla.
Magna is by far the leader in specialty auto production and are currently building the Z4/Supra for BMW and Toyota respectively.
Foxcon doesn't build cars and has no expertise doing so.

 

[mngdew]

If Apple goes to Foxconn and fail to capture EV market because of low production yield, that may be the end for Tim Cook.

Magna is a good call, but I really think they should just go with Kia because they are the best option

The last time I heard, all talks between major automakers and Apple failed since no one wants to work as Apple's subcontractors.

 

[jlc1978]

The last time I heard, all talks between major automakers and Apple failed since no one wants to work as Apple's subcontractors.

I could see Apple going with one of the startups, such as Canoo, Bollinger, Rivian or Lordstown. An infusion of Apple's cash to suppport the infrastructure needed to build the Apple Car would help their long term viability; plus they are small enough that Apple could basically call the shots.

Lordstown already has the basic infrastructure in place from the old GM plant; plus GM has invested in them as well so they seem the best positioned right now to survive.