I think the interest for a car manufacturer is in technology licensing, assuming Apple has tech that they don't already have and excess production capacity. For KIA, access to Apple tech would let them compete with bigger manufacturers on features and expand their production facilities.
Tesla, right now, is dependent on selling credits to other manufacturers for a good chunk of it's cash flow. That will start going away so Tesla needs to ramp up production to the point cars are actually profitable when all costs are included.
Lexus would likely want to keep their brand on the car and dictate a lot of the features and styling; something Apple won't likely agree to. Kia, OTOH, is more likely to do so and build quality vehicles.
True, the question is can Apple's brand aadd enough perceived value to command a premium that prices it against established players?
Volvo would be interesting, but owning a manufacturing plant of that scale and size is not typically how Apple works.
In addition, if the car flops and they own Volvo they are stuck with it and can't just shut it down and probably would sell at a loss.
You also have to look at the source of the income. That'd be great if their core products were financing the investment so that if they scale back they are profitable; but in Tesla's case a significant chunk is from selling credits that will not last as other manufacturers ramp up EV sales. That also means greater competition so Tesla faces 2 challenges to long term viability. The politicaal and labor ramifications are headaches Apple likely would try to avoid; not to mention Apple would have to deal with powerful unions.
Polestar would make more sense but then Apple would be tied to China for production and technology transfer.
Tesla is one of a number of
top rated vehicles by the IIHS. They're good, but so are a number of other vehicles.
