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Actually, now that I think of it, it depends on demographics.
If Apple wants to reach the masses it would need to set an aggressive price, like 30-40k.

Or they could release lots of models.
Apple car A, for the masses, A stands for affordable.
Apple car L, Luxury, 100k.
Apple car E, executive, 200-300k.

Forgot one
Apple car C, collectors item, runs in the millions.
They need an Apple LC (Luxury Car)
 
Yeah, to me Hyundai and Kia are the LAST brands I would associate with Apple. Heck, even a Dodge would make more sense. Really, Tesla is the Apple of the automotive world. That would make the most sense if ever it was possible.
 

"CORRECTED-UPDATE 1-Hyundai Motor, Kia say they are not in talks with Apple on autonomous car development"​

Not so, simply says they're not in talks about a driverless car!;)
well, and now this ... who knows what's going on

 
Yeah, to me Hyundai and Kia are the LAST brands I would associate with Apple. Heck, even a Dodge would make more sense. Really, Tesla is the Apple of the automotive world. That would make the most sense if ever it was possible.
Kia and Hyundai are great candidates. They're towards the front of the pack when it comes to a mainstream automaker in the EV space and have a focus on providing long warranties to their customers, which has built up a loyal fanbase.

They might not be fashionable, but they're very good cars, and Apple will worry about making it fashionable and charging premiums that legacy automakers could only dream of
 
Kia and Hyundai are great candidates. They're towards the front of the pack when it comes to a mainstream automaker in the EV space and have a focus on providing long warranties to their customers, which has built up a loyal fanbase.

They might not be fashionable, but they're very good cars, and Apple will worry about making it fashionable and charging premiums that legacy automakers could only dream of
For American market the vehicles that make the most money are SUVs and Trucks. I could see Apple making a SUV though I am not sure if it will be a small one or a larger one. I don't see them making a truck.

For cars, for some reason folks expect Camry pricing with Porsche performance and Mercedes Benz appointments. Not sure if Apple will bother chasing that segment.
 
For American market the vehicles that make the most money are SUVs and Trucks.

Not to mention the best selling vehicle in the US is the F-150, and has been for years. That's why GM is rebranding Hummer as an EV and Ford is bringing out an electric F150.

I could see Apple making a SUV though I am not sure if it will be a small one or a larger one. I don't see them making a truck.

I doubt the would do either as they would be very US centric vehicles and thus not likely to sell well overseas. Differing safety standards aside; I could not see someone motoring around a major European city in an SUV, let alone get out of a El Corte Inglés car park. The original Top Gear, with Hammond, May and Clarkson had some funny segments around driving a US vehicle in Europe, especially Clarkson's Ford GT.

A small crossover, the BMW X1 or X2 and its ilk would seem to be more likely if they went the SUV route.

For cars, for some reason folks expect Camry pricing with Porsche performance and Mercedes Benz appointments. Not sure if Apple will bother chasing that segment.

I'd bet on Porsche performance with MB appointments and Rolls Royce pricing before we'd see Camry pricing.
 
Yea, it seems to be more of one of his hobbies than something he is fully engaged in; but at any rate he adds some excitement to a relatively boring industry in terms of how the approach the public.



I am not sure Amazon's approach will work for an industry where manufacturing and inventory costs are a large part of the costs, and some Tesla unique GSA costs. For example, Amazon carries inventory for 3rd party sellers but it only costs them warehouse space; Amazon pushed much of the last mile delivery costs and risk on its ADP's. As a result, it can grow faster than its costs due at some point.

Apple seems to be taking a similar risk mitigation approach to the Apple car.

I'm not saying Tesla won't be profitable at some point, just it faces several significant challenges to get there and stay there.



To a certain extent I agree, but a number of Tesla's issues go beyond just minor quality problems.



Tesla's play may be in the technology and not as a car manufacturer long term.



I have no position in Tesla, I'm just interested in it from a strategy and finance POV.



Musk estimated 500 - 600K have placed $100 deposits late last year, it looks like 650k by end of December; the question remains how many can he deliver and when, as well as how many will actually turn into paid orders. It's not even clear when full scale production will start; if it is in 2 -3 years as the article implies it will face competition from Ford and Gs; whose owners tend to be brand loyal. GM already is getting ready to sell the new Hummer, for example.

In addition, the Cybertruck is a US market only model, and Tesla is trying to get those with deposits to leaseanother Tesla until the truck can be deklivered in the 2021-2023 timeframe.



Tesla has gotten a lot of hype and Musk knows how to excite consumers; but you have to move from early adopters. It's true he gets lots of preorders, but for $100 if you are interested why not take a shot?

The eMustang is popular, but dealers aren't taking orders they know they can't fill.



and tried to conquer too many markets...

Almost all your arguments were brought up with model 3 - now you bring it with cybertruck. This thing is just pure excitement!!!
The truck market is huge in the us and ford maybe G m will ofCourse have some e-truck - but they are playing very safe.
That’s unamerican - and not fun!

Hummer is a joke - almost everyone laughs about that show car - 20k orders and delivery when - 21/22 - iDknow

The quality issues you are mentioning - come on - a million Tesla’s is driving around and super safe - anything can be changed easily in cars and production - every major car company has super huge recalls!

Rivian seems a legit competitor and far more interesting than ford or g m.

To come back to apple - mobility is super exciting like smartphones were back then - the best to come - starting from 2025 (my prediction) we will see which company has a good offer and can crush competition.

Tesla has everything you need to be a winner - apple has nothing at the moment - just their fans and brand power! And even if they buy into a platform - which one ever - they probably will choose an eco-system approach - where they connect it to their eco-system and i am no longer interested in their eco-system - i want a new company succeed and crush apple !!!
 
Not to mention the best selling vehicle in the US is the F-150, and has been for years. That's why GM is rebranding Hummer as an EV and Ford is bringing out an electric F150.



I doubt the would do either as they would be very US centric vehicles and thus not likely to sell well overseas. Differing safety standards aside; I could not see someone motoring around a major European city in an SUV, let alone get out of a El Corte Inglés car park. The original Top Gear, with Hammond, May and Clarkson had some funny segments around driving a US vehicle in Europe, especially Clarkson's Ford GT.

A small crossover, the BMW X1 or X2 and its ilk would seem to be more likely if they went the SUV route.



I'd bet on Porsche performance with MB appointments and Rolls Royce pricing before we'd see Camry pricing.
Yeah they could do a crossover (which is just a taller wagon/hatchback), that would sell well everywhere. But it still doesn't rake in money like Trucks (Ford makes ALL their money from F150, think about that for a moment). It is also why the "big 3" were so quick to talk about electrification of their truck lines. Especially around the Cybertruck reveal timeframe, cause they know where their bread is buttered.

Sedan sales are declining/flat in the US. Apple would not be doing themselves any favors by making one at this point.
 
Almost all your arguments were brought up with model 3 - now you bring it with cybertruck. This thing is just pure excitement!!!

Never said it wasn't but it remains to be seen how many Tesla will actually sell, if and when it comes out.

The truck market is huge in the us and ford maybe G m will ofCourse have some e-truck - but they are playing very safe.
That’s unamerican - and not fun!

They are playing it safe because they know the truck market and their buyers.

Hummer is a joke - almost everyone laughs about that show car - 20k orders and delivery when - 21/22 - iDknow

Considering the first years production sold out in 10 minutes and unlike Tesla limits it to their expected production capacity; which they are looking to expand. I'd say it was a successful, if a different, approach than Tesla's lets do a cash grab; and it will be out a few years before Tesla.

The quality issues you are mentioning - come on - a million Tesla’s is driving around and super safe - anything can be changed easily in cars and production - every major car company has super huge recalls!

Tesla keeps having some scary issues - such as missing bolts in key components; and scoring near bottom in quality ratings.

To come back to apple - mobility is super exciting like smartphones were back then - the best to come - starting from 2025 (my prediction) we will see which company has a good offer and can crush competition.

It will be interesting to see who wins out and what happens to Tesla.

Yeah they could do a crossover (which is just a taller wagon/hatchback), that would sell well everywhere. But it still doesn't rake in money like Trucks (Ford makes ALL their money from F150, think about that for a moment). It is also why the "big 3" were so quick to talk about electrification of their truck lines. Especially around the Cybertruck reveal timeframe, cause they know where their bread is buttered.

Exactly, and they know their market very well. I suspect the eF150 will do very well with fleets and tradesmen, especially if the TCO is lower than an ICE truck.

Ford's F150 has been the best selling vehicle in th US since the 80's. To look at it another way, Ford sells almost as many F150's in a year, and has done so for a number of years, as Tesla has since it started.

Sedan sales are declining/flat in the US. Apple would not be doing themselves any favors by making one at this point.

Yea, crossovers and SUVs seem to be the in thing, especially with low gas prices.
 
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Your hate is kinda disturbing.

Tesla makes the safest cars in the world - POINT that’s a FACT

Build quality was never that bad as you say but was quite bad for the price. But that’s already PAST - NOW even sandy Monroe says the newest models have excellent gap measures and fantastic paint job. Not to mention it has high tech inside and soon single casted front and back.

Unless you are a shortseller you should really try to UPDATE your facts!
The Model 3 only has been improved and only for the cars made in January 2021. Model Y is still a disaster. I tried to buy it three times. I rejected it three times due to dozens of defects.
 
Hyundai is Kia’s parent company and their new luxury brand Genesis has been reviewed in depth and has received pretty high marks. There is no reason why Apple shouldn’t choose Hyundai if it makes sense to them. Apple rarely makes decisions in haste - especially not an expensive one.
Also… I have owned a Hyundai Sonata for years now. It’s been the best car I’ve ever owned. It did have a defective engine, but Hyundai took care of it and every cost associated with it including a rental while the car was at the dealership. Their customer service was impressive. And other than that defect, I’ve literally had NO issues with the vehicle and it now has 130,000 miles on it. I expect it will continue to be a good car until I part with it to something newer.
Hyundai is not Kia’s parent company. Hyundai owns 30% of Kia. Kia owns between 15% and 40% in a dozen of Hyundai-owned companies. They are also run by members of the same family (or at least used to be). Hyundai and Kia are like an uncle and a nephew. They are related but not members of the immediate family. Hyundai can’t tell Kia what to do, as Hyundai doesn’t own at least 50% plus one share of Kia.
 
The Model 3 only has been improved and only for the cars made in January 2021. Model Y is still a disaster. I tried to buy it three times. I rejected it three times due to dozens of defects.
What I don't get is why/how the MiC 3's (and soon Y's) are even better built than the ones from Fremont. Makes you wonder if Giga-Austin will have better or worse quality vehicles.
 
everybody has the same tech, nowadays. Tesla will soon build a roadster with 1000mle battery, who cares ...

yea, everyone should buy the brand which appeals to him

lucid has just a glossy prototype and aims for luxury - telsa aims for all of us!

Well the Lucid CEO stated the other day they plan to do the same thing, eventually offer a Lucid model under $40k, of course a CEO can say anything but here is the thing, for Tesla to get to all of us, they need to realize what Musk said a few months ago, that Tesla would produce a model for $25k, he said they would by a certain year, can't remember the year, I gather from your statements you think this will happen.

Even if it does come to fruition, does it worry you that GM seems to be totally realigning their long term strategy toward a complete EV model lineup by 2035?

Say what you want about the Chevy Bolt but the technology behind it seems to be solid and a step above the Nissan Leaf, anyway the next three to five years should be interesting in the EV space.
 
Well the Lucid CEO stated the other day they plan to do the same thing, eventually offer a Lucid model under $40k, of course a CEO can say anything but here is the thing, for Tesla to get to all of us, they need to realize what Musk said a few months ago, that Tesla would produce a model for $25k, he said they would by a certain year, can't remember the year, I gather from your statements you think this will happen.

It will be interesting to see if and when Tesla comes out with a sub 25+K car; but even if they do they still face a number of other challenges long term.

Even if it does come to fruition, does it worry you that GM seems to be totally realigning their long term strategy toward a complete EV model lineup by 2035?

And it's not just GM, Ford and others as well; which means Tesla's window to get to net profitability is going to shrink, the question is how quickly will the credits dwindle to near zero. Tesla also has the challenge of building out a dealer network to sell and service a lot of cars. Web sales are nice, but once the early adopters are gone and competition heats up not being able to test drive one easily will hinder their growth.

Say what you want about the Chevy Bolt but the technology behind it seems to be solid and a step above the Nissan Leaf, anyway the next three to five years should be interesting in the EV space.

You, the nest 3-5 years will be interesting as more of the traditional manufacturers ramp up EV choices.
It seems Apple is moving towards a different market than the average car buyer and towards some sort of autonomous fleet vehicle if rumors are correct.
 
The Model 3 only has been improved and only for the cars made in January 2021. Model Y is still a disaster. I tried to buy it three times. I rejected it three times due to dozens of defects.
That’s your good right - but model y was already better from the beginning than model 3.
you sound like someone who returns their Mac 2-3 times, too!

but please elaborate - WHAT where the issues exactly
 
Well the Lucid CEO stated the other day they plan to do the same thing, eventually offer a Lucid model under $40k, of course a CEO can say anything but here is the thing, for Tesla to get to all of us, they need to realize what Musk said a few months ago, that Tesla would produce a model for $25k, he said they would by a certain year, can't remember the year, I gather from your statements you think this will happen.

Even if it does come to fruition, does it worry you that GM seems to be totally realigning their long term strategy toward a complete EV model lineup by 2035?

Say what you want about the Chevy Bolt but the technology behind it seems to be solid and a step above the Nissan Leaf, anyway the next three to five years should be interesting in the EV space.

Teals will relentlessly work towards a real good cheap EV - BUT i think it isn’t even necessary anymore. The world is RICH - you can sell gazillions of cars above the 35k price tag.

the bolt might be a solid car - but its not sexy and its not EV first - its just an ICE-V.

G M is a company that spends ways too much in bad marketing - now with that norway spot.

why should it worry me that they have an EV strategy. It’s a huge market with many new players - there’s a good chance that most of the old big auto will disappear.

FIAT and Peugeot are already merged - VW is fighting tooth and claw for survival - i have no idea what bmw and mercedes are doing - Mercedes recently split their brand in two.

expect a huge turmoil starting latest 2025 - when all the new EV start ups are pumping out cars like crazy.

if i was still in love with apple - i would say - 2025 is the right time where an apple under steve would have come out with an great icar - that blew away the rest with its easiness of use and tight integration!
 
- VW is fighting tooth and claw for survival

I wouldn't call 15 Billion in operating profit fighting tooth and claw, even if it is down from 19 billion in 2019.

- i have no idea what bmw and mercedes are doing

BMW was also profitable in 2020, with 7.4 billion Euros in operating profit.

Tesla, OTOH, was in the red yet again in operating profit.

expect a huge turmoil starting latest 2025 - when all the new EV start ups are pumping out cars like crazy.

I expect it will get interetsing before then, as the major manufacturers bring out more EVs and Hybrids. BMW is ramping up with new EVs, GM has the Hummer, Ford the F150.

It will be interesting to see how Apple responds to the different dynamics of the car market vs its current ones; unlike their other products, they can't rely on the existing sales and service network for the rumored Apple Car. That will drive initial costs up and may result in year over year losses; will Apple decide it's worth it or use it to showcase technology they can then sell to other carmakers? Or will they forgo the consumer directly and sell a transporation system and not cars?
 
I wouldn't call 15 Billion in operating profit fighting tooth and claw, even if it is down from 19 billion in 2019.



BMW was also profitable in 2020, with 7.4 billion Euros in operating profit.

Tesla, OTOH, was in the red yet again in operating profit.



I expect it will get interetsing before then, as the major manufacturers bring out more EVs and Hybrids. BMW is ramping up with new EVs, GM has the Hummer, Ford the F150.

It will be interesting to see how Apple responds to the different dynamics of the car market vs its current ones; unlike their other products, they can't rely on the existing sales and service network for the rumored Apple Car. That will drive initial costs up and may result in year over year losses; will Apple decide it's worth it or use it to showcase technology they can then sell to other carmakers? Or will they forgo the consumer directly and sell a transporation system and not cars?

ofCourse well established car companies make profits. I mean come on ... but vw has huge credit lines and liability’s - they have an enormous internal transformation going on...

The question is more if anyone wants to buy into (whatever apple has) ecosystem. Taking HomeKit as an example i would say NOooo.

Apple is a disgusting partner to deal with - and car companies always wanted to keep everything in their hand.

So only economic turmoil or some Kia Hyundai madness can bring apple into the car game.

Effectively there’s nothing to win for ANY company dealing with apple or google - they are one of the most toxic companies today - capture everything and anything.

FANG is the legion of doom, 😆

Apple car is like apple television - its just to keep the door open - and i hope no one will step in their trap!

On the other hand i use only HomeKit devices on wlan base - because there’s no company with an consistent eco-system - it’s completely non-understandable to me WHY no major company can defeat apple?!?

Hence from todays view - apple can do whatever they do - it will work out the one way or another - if companies are not apple to step up to them.
 
ofCourse well established car companies make profits. I mean come on ... but vw has huge credit lines and liability’s - they have an enormous internal transformation going on...

The question is more if anyone wants to buy into (whatever apple has) ecosystem. Taking HomeKit as an example i would say NOooo.

Apple is a disgusting partner to deal with - and car companies always wanted to keep everything in their hand.

So only economic turmoil or some Kia Hyundai madness can bring apple into the car game.

Effectively there’s nothing to win for ANY company dealing with apple or google - they are one of the most toxic companies today - capture everything and anything.

FANG is the legion of doom, 😆

Apple car is like apple television - its just to keep the door open - and i hope no one will step in their trap!

On the other hand i use only HomeKit devices on wlan base - because there’s no company with an consistent eco-system - it’s completely non-understandable to me WHY no major company can defeat apple?!?

Hence from todays view - apple can do whatever they do - it will work out the one way or another - if companies are not apple to step up to them.

Some notes from someone working in the auto industry:

1. Established car companies make profits - I'm not really sure what your point is here. Automakers are large, complex businesses, and every car line is very different. Some vehicles are cash cows in all markets, some make money only in some markets but are tolerated elsewhere because the additional volume helps offset the investment, some are loss leaders kept to maintain a presence in the segment (i.e. all small cars that aren't called Fiat 500). Big automakers making money is far from a given

2. Ecosystems - These aren't really an issue for automakers. Google and Apple provide the means to offer the interface and the automakers make them available to the end user as a cost of doing business. The infotainment interface in my car is Android Auto 99% of the time. It's easy and well integrated with everything else (Whatsapp, Spotify etc.), much like Apple Carplay, and for such an insignificant on-cost for the automaker, it's a pretty big red flag to not have it.

3. Apple as a disgusting partner - Difficult, definitely. Disgusting? Not at all. Look at Amazon's electric fleet from Rivian. If you have a customer that's willing to piggyback off a platform you already have, foot the engineering and tooling bill for 100,000 vehicles with guaranteed profit as a contract manufacturer, you at least listen, especially if the continued move away from ICE vehicles leaves you with under or unutilised facilities. It's far from easy to negotiate on a situation like that because of issues such as dealer networks, warranty, after-sales service etc, but to say there's nothing to win is far from true
 
Teals will relentlessly work towards a real good cheap EV - BUT i think it isn’t even necessary anymore. The world is RICH - you can sell gazillions of cars above the 35k price tag.

the bolt might be a solid car - but its not sexy and its not EV first - its just an ICE-V.

G M is a company that spends ways too much in bad marketing - now with that norway spot.

why should it worry me that they have an EV strategy. It’s a huge market with many new players - there’s a good chance that most of the old big auto will disappear.

FIAT and Peugeot are already merged - VW is fighting tooth and claw for survival - i have no idea what bmw and mercedes are doing - Mercedes recently split their brand in two.

expect a huge turmoil starting latest 2025 - when all the new EV start ups are pumping out cars like crazy.

if i was still in love with apple - i would say - 2025 is the right time where an apple under steve would have come out with an great icar - that blew away the rest with its easiness of use and tight integration!

The GM statement is a throwaway line that does not add to the discussion and the Chevy Bolt is a total EV with a battery that is over 200 miles range, it does appear that GM did not put much effort in advertising the Bolt, I would be worried though in that their liquid cooled batteries display they are technologically proficient and if they truly are about to turn the battleship fully into EV, they seem to have a battery advantage over Ford and Nissan.

You've accused others of being Tesla short sellers, well your posts seem to indicate you might be a Tesla stock investor, more throwaway stuff, car mergers, again, yeah so what, that is how the industry evolved over the past thirty years to survive, where are your specifics, just a lot of rah-rah Tesla, Apple sucks, the car industry are all idiots.

The world is rich, again, another vapid statement, Musk made it a priority to say he envisioned the company's overall goal would be to produce an affordable car, he made 25k the realization of that goal.

If you think Tesla and their largest shareholders are not worried about competition, well, if that were true they all should be fired for incompetence.

VW, what are they currently, number two or number three in the net revenue lead for worldwide automobile companies, but keep tossing out nonsensical statements.
 
Why would any car manufacturer want to make a car for Apple if it makes them another Foxconn? Apple should have just approached Tesla and have a joint car development. Maybe something innovative could come out of that. The only way car manufacturers would be okay is if their branding is still in the car. Like Kia Apple Car or something. Ford Apple Car. Toyota Apple Car. etc...

Contract manufacturing isn’t uncommon in the industry. Apple hired plenty from Tesla and vice versa so I think they know their value rather well at this stage.
Apple and Tesla in my opinion want different approaches. Tesla wants to be leading while Apple wants to repeat the iPod formula and wait until the base technology is all readily available and then fuse hardware/ software and potentially services together.
 
Apple Car that costs no telling what... AR Glasses that cost thousands... I just want an iPad mini that doesn't look a decade old—full screen, small bezels, and uses the 2nd gen Apple Pencil.

A shrunken version of the iPad Air 4 would be welcome!
 
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