Apple Negotiating with Hyundai for Apple Car Production [Updated x2]

[McScooby]

The only thing I can see that apple have in common with Hyundai (apart from computers, which incidentally are also also mince) is the planned obsolescence with Hyundai cars, they just don't seem to last that long til they break!

 

[BLUEDOG314]

Can you imagine an Apple dealership with the vibe of an Apple store? You stop by trying to get service or something legitimate for a car and someone is ahead of you complaining about their contacts not syncing to their car, and the only manager is tied up in a CS issue because the new guy DFUed a car without asking the customer if they backed up their dashcam footage to iCloud yet. The "genius" gets to you finally, and after 45 minutes of explaining you leave because you are over being told by a Gen Z kid with blue hair that the leather damage isn't covered under warranty because "you're sitting in it wrong."

I'll look at the second gen model.

 

[Hyperchaotic]

There's a 0% chance this will work out well for Apple. Of all brands, I'd never partner with Hyundai to make me a car. I wouldn't want to pay the Apple Tax on a rebranded Hyundai. If they partnered with Toyota or Honda, I'd be much more willing to fork that over (not that I could afford an Apple Car in the first place, but still).

It's not clear at all that it would just be a rebranded Hyundai. Knowing Apple I doubt it. They could be negotiating for manufacturing capacity to make a car completely of Apple design and to Apple specifications, we simply don't know and can't draw conclusions right now.

It's a bit like jeans, of which my ex was a buyer; the cheapest brand in town and the most well regarded quality brand might both come from the same factory but the respective companies ordered different weight fabric, quality zippers, number of stitches, etc and paid different prices.

 

[DanTSX]

Smart move

You can tell who doesn’t know anything about cars besides brand logos in this thread. Very ignorant thinking. Hyundai is a lot more than just cars, and anyone paying attention to international business would immediately realize this.

People used to scoff at the Japanese imports 30-50 years ago..... Hyundai is very vertical and innovative. The improvements to their products and marketing over the past decade have been beyond impressive. Hyundai executives also are extremely competitive and are taking the chances they need to succeed. The Japanese competition is lead by stale and boring leaders without vision. American competition is just a joke,

 

[0423MAC]

I'd be surprised if Apple weren't negotiating with every major car maker in the world.

You're not going to get the lowest prices by talking with only one maker.

This is the take.

All jokes aside, Hyundai makes good cars. Is their stuff the first that comes to mind with top of the line vehicles? Nah, BUT considering that their process has already been established it won't take long for them to fine tune things to suit the needs of Apple. They are well established in the market for producing very good cars at great prices which points to their overall efficiency and ability to keep costs down.

It would be so ironic if the deal is made with Tesla at the end of the day....after Apple refused to buy them years ago.

 

[ntlman]

Hyundai/Kia make the #3 and #4 top selling EV in Europe behind Renault and #1 VW. Hyundai has a dealer/service network across North America that could also be leveraged into charging. Hyundai/Kias are produced in a red state that already builds MBs.

Meanwhile, Tesla doesn't even have a model in the European top 10 EVs. It does currently have a major US recall investigation started by the NHTSA, on top of their own current adhesive recall. Oh and they will probably have to buy back stock options en masse from Musk when he loses in Chancery Court this March for the SolarCity/Tesla investor fraud lawsuit.

I know who I'm betting on, even if I think their latest headphones are kinda dumb. 🍎

 

[snoonw]

its very very very hard to do self driving and apple has almost not done much work on it. google has been doing since 2009 and its having problem scaling up and is still on level 4.
tesla has alot of data collected but most of that data is mundane and repetitive and useless. u need to cover all the edge cases so u dont have a crash.
by the time appl can make a car the self driving landscape will be quite a bit different and tesla might be in the lead over waymo. tesla will be the 800 lb gorilla.

appl has a long shot at success

 

[vmistery]

I’m not sure why so many people here are hostile to it being Hyundai, they have one of the best electric platforms available at the moment well ahead of many European/ US designs with the exception of Tesla. It’s likely that the exterior and interior would be totally designed by Apple anyway so all you’d be getting is a well built reliable car with Apple’s excellent design and quality control skills on top. That all said, I bet they’re talking to everyone who has a decent electric platform roadmap.

 

[dazz87]

Hyundai? why?

 

[0423MAC]

Hyundai makes the #3 selling EV in Europe behind Renault and #1 VW. Hyundai has a dealer/service network across North America that could also be leveraged into charging. Hyundai/Kias are produced in a red state that already builds MBs.

Meanwhile, Tesla doesn't even have a model in the European top 10 EVs. It does currently have a major US recall investigation started by the NHTSA, on top of their own current adhesive recall. Oh and they will probably have to buy back stock options en masse from Musk when he loses in Chancery Court this March for the SolarCity/Tesla investor fraud lawsuit.

I know who I'm betting on, even if I think their latest headphones are kinda dumb. 🍎

I don't think people understand just how challenging it is to make cars. Ask anyone who follows the industry closely. The fact that Tesla even survived is a small miracle and Apple can't risk such capital on a product that hasn't even been market tested.

Some of the kids in this thread really need to take notes. This isn't the same as Apple cranking out iPhones and Macs. This is not only a challenging manufacturing endeavor, but a potential logistical nightmare that Apple has zero experience with.

Hyundai will be a great partner if that's the company that lands the exclusive contract. It gives apple a lot of time to make stellar environmental report PDFs for their website and drop-in clips during their apple events 😉

 

[sw1tcher]

lul. No one's paying Apple's premium markup for a rebranded Hyundai. foh.

Hyundai can and do make high quality vehicles.

Look at what they have done with their Genesis brand.

2021 Genesis GV80 Interior Review: Seriously Luxurious

With green leather and plenty of high-end features, the Genesis GV80 interior is a new kind of luxury.

www.motortrend.com

2021 Genesis G80 Fully Revealed, and We're Impressed

The new sedan looks like it could give the BMW 5-series and Mercedes E-class some serious competition.

www.caranddriver.com

 

[iiiiiMAC!!!!!]

Foxconn is an OEM. They make a lot of things for other companies to slap their name on. You got a beef with Apple, or a beef with OEM's?

I like to eat apples when i have chicken, not beef.

 

[puckhead193]

It makes sense along with with BMW they were the first to do the apple car key thing.

I know Genesis gets good reviews but when I went to go test drive their large sedan the seat broke and couldn't be moved/fixed...

 

[cmaier]

LOL @ Hyundai. Yugo must have turned them down.

Hyundai makes very good cars.

 

[sirozha]

Apple’s contribution to the Apple Car will be the autonomous driving system, the infotainment system, and the Apple badges on the hood, trunk, steering wheel, and on the rims. The rest of the car will be designed by the car manufacturer that Apple partners with. I doubt VW is interested in becoming Apple’s OEM.

Apple will not be designing a car.

 

[Thekevan]

My guess is they will soon release a high tier brand like Lexus or Infinity. It will be that high end that Apple will use.

They already did: Genesis.

 

[H3LL5P4WN]

Dear god please let this fall through.

This makes no sense from an Apple standpoint, either. Apple makes high quality, well engineered, somewhat expensive, beautiful exercises of industrial design while hyundai makes cheap, ugly, plastic junk.

 

[H3LL5P4WN]

Hyundai-Kia has factories in Alabama and Georgia with further expansion planned.

And they’re still non-union with the money ultimately going to an executive outside of this country.

If I want junk, I’ll go to a scrap yard.

 

[swarmster]

Wow I’m surprised we have a statement...

Seriously. Next headline will be “Hundai ruled out of negotiations for Apple Car”. Anyone remember the ATI grudge?

 

[SpinThis!]

Update: In a statement to CNBC, Hyundai confirmed that it is in discussions with Apple.

Wow I’m surprised we have a statement...

Yeh with Apple's secretive nature this is either an intentional leak, to see how the press might react, or Hyundai just failed their first test —keep their lids shut until a product launch.

There's a 0% chance this will work out well for Apple. Of all brands, I'd never partner with Hyundai to make me a car. I wouldn't want to pay the Apple Tax on a rebranded Hyundai.

These sorts of comments are comical. There's a 0% chance Apple is just going to let a manufacturer slap their logo on a car and only simply do the electronics and put a huge "Apple Tax" on it. If that were simply the case, Apple would have shipped it already and skip the autonomous part.

It remains to be seen how Apple is going to reimagine a vehicle. Is it commute focused? Is it a sports sedan? SUV? Minivan? Way too many questions at this point to even pass judgement or even what a price point might even be. The only thing we can be certain is like most of Apple's products you'll either want it or hate it. And the first gen will have a ton of bugs.

 

[ksec]

Interesting Hyundai actually admit they are talking to Apple.

Normally the standard answer is we do not comment on rumours or future plans. Which really is a confirmation because if there are none they will flat out deny it. ( That is just how the PR industry works )

But given this is Hyundai, and the report coming from Korea, I remember they passed a law where you can no longer hide the company's name if it was a significant customer. Which was in response to Apple often not allowing their partner to tell their investors on their relationship with Apple.

 

[Cosmosent]

NOT just manufacturing, but where would such a car get Serviced ?

That "may" determine who they align with in the end.

 

[_Spinn_]

Apple’s contribution to the Apple Car will be the autonomous driving system, the infotainment system, and the Apple badges on the hood, trunk, steering wheel, and on the rims. The rest of the car will be designed by the car manufacturer that Apple partners with. I doubt VW is interested in becoming Apple’s OEM.

Apple will not be designing a car.

If it was any company other than Apple I would agree but I find it hard to believe that Apple would simply develop the platform for self-driving vehicles and license it out to car manufacturers since they like to control the entire customer experience.

That being said I also find it hard to believe that Apple wants to get into the car business since the infrastructure required would be massive. I really don't know what to make of all this at this point.

 

[Ruggy]

No they'd need a manufacturer who will be around in 5 years.

They're in a deal with Peugeot.
Well, officially it's a $50bn merger between Fiat, Chrysler and Peugeot.
Where the manufacturing will be is a good question though.

 

[/V\acpower]

Hyundai doesn't really have a foot in the premium market. Can see Apple helping with that.

I know we all associate Apple with "Premium".

But Apple products are not "luxury" products for the most part, in fact they mostly democratized good design and good build quality. They ship products that use "noble" materials and very sophisticated manufacturing process and sell them at a price that's affordable for most middle class peoples.

You look at the iPhone 12 for example, and you have an object that is build with a precision and quality that used to be only for very high end luxury products a little more than a decade ago.

Also, the weird thing about consumer tech is that if you consider Apple to be the "premium" "aspirational" brand, it's one that most people can afford.

I'm a teacher and my phone may very well be the exact same phone used by a lot of movie and sports stars. In fact, even billionaires are probably using a cellphone I could afford if I wanted to.

And this is probably not true of any other object I own. My furniture, my clothes, my glasses, my car, etc. No other object I own I would expect to find in a billionaire house, except my phone, and possibly my computer.

This to say, Premium in tech doesn't have the same meaning as Premium in cars. I think it's more likely that Apple goal is to make an affordable car (by car standards) with the least amount of "compromise" possible.

(Also, they had a phase with the Apple Watch where they tried to be a luxury brand and failed, I don't expect to see them going back to this.)