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BMW CFO on Apple Car: 'Competition is a Wonderful Thing'

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Amid rumors that Apple is working on an Apple-branded car that will come out in the next decade, BMW Chief Financial Officer Nicolas Peter today told Bloomberg that he's not concerned about the threat of an Apple vehicle.

Apple-car-wheel-icon-feature-purple.jpg

"I sleep very peacefully," said Peter when Bloomberg asked for his opinion on Apple entering the car market. "Competition is a wonderful thing - it helps motivate the others."

He went on to explain that BMW is in a "very strong position" and wants to "remain in a leading position of the industry."

BMW executives have been similarly calm about Tesla's growing dominance in the car market. Chief Executive Officer Oliver Zipse in February said that "it won't be easy" for Tesla to continue growing at a rapid pace as traditional car makers come out with electric vehicles. "The rest of the industry is moving ahead big time," said Zipse.

Apple is said to be working on an Apple-designed and branded vehicle that will be fully autonomous and electric. Apple is rumored to be looking for manufacturing partners and at one point, was considering Hyundai/Kia. We're still many years away from an Apple vehicle, however, with rumors suggesting that work on the car is in the early stages with Apple planning for a launch in 2025 at the earliest.

Article Link: BMW CFO on Apple Car: 'Competition is a Wonderful Thing'
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2021/03/08/bmw-cfo-apple-car-comments/
Apple car rumor was not a BMW but a van. A huge market for autonomous vehicles in the business market. Also much easier to implement if the vehicles are generally route driven as opposed to everyday personal use. Smart move if true on Apples part.
 
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"I sleep very peacefully," said Peter when Bloomberg asked for his opinion on Apple entering the car market. "Competition is a wonderful thing - it helps motivate the others.

You will not be able to sleep peacefully once Apple car is released... Get ready... It's coming... #AppleCar
#Yourbiggestcompetitor

See you back in Germany BMW.
 
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az431 said:
Why is this even news? Did anyone expect a BMW executive to respond that they have an inferior product, are scared of competition, and would therefore be closing the company down?
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Wholeheartedly agreed. To take it a step further, “admitting” aside, does anyone actually expect BMW to have an inferior product, be scared of competition, and close down?
 
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Why are these car companies' executives coming out of the woodworks to say they're not afraid of a product that doesn't even exist yet?
 
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I would imagine the younger Tesla and BMW demo meet at the center of a venn diagram. I think BMW should be very concerned about losing market share to Tesla.
 
The problem with Apple entering the car market that may make the rest angry is that Apple can use the same tactic of creating a new product that integrates proprietary technology and great deals on manufacturing or the tech that goes inside it to create a new standard the rest of the industry is ill equipped to compete with. It would essentially take Microsoft or google to copy them as much as possible and churn out crap cars for years till they can fully copy the new standard. This will take away power from the current automakers scrambling to catch up.
 
CrashSpyroXP said:
Why are these car companies' executives coming out of the woodworks to say they're not afraid of a product that doesn't even exist yet?
Click to expand...

Knowing that you didn't read the MR post:

"I sleep very peacefully," said Peter when Bloomberg asked for his opinion on Apple entering the car market. "Competition is a wonderful thing - it helps motivate the others."
 
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koruki said:
lol he must be on sleeping pills to sleep peacefully, they can hardly compete on ICE now let alone EV
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Bit of a silly statement when (aside from the pandemic year) they had been selling record numbers of cars worldwide for the previous 2 years and still sell 8 times as many cars as Tesla. They are the biggest selling ”premium” brand in the world.
 
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Smartphones aren't like cars. There are a LOT of car companies. People have loyalty to certain car companies, and like the look of them and how they sound and feel. Unlike smartphones prior to the iPhone, there are cars that are beautifully designed and run really well with good usability already.

Sure they may steal some percentage away from several of the luxury brands, but I don't really see these companies going under just because of Apple. Long term, however, they may feel more of a squeeze, and the market might dictate that one or two of these brands falls by the wayside to make room, but the vast majority of these companies will probably still be around for many decades—if not in spite of Apple, but because the various governments around the world prop them up.

This is a very large, established industry. Smartphones were in infant form when Apple arrived on the scene. The iPhone is a miniaturized Mac—a different form of computer that Apple was good at making. A car is something else entirely. Some of these companies have been around for a century or more and have their own cult followings. And many seem willing to change with the times by incorporating electric cars into their lineup while investigating self driving, while smartphone companies of the past were often not willing to change and innovate.

Everyone knows where the market is going today, while back then people really had no idea they wanted the iPhone before it was announced and changed everything. I just don't see that happening on the same level with a car taking so much market share. Especially where Apple will end up pricing it. Apple's distinct advantage will be in software and how that melds with the hardware. A car that picks you up at the curb and automatically takes you to your next appointment without having to do anything. A car that runs errands for you during the day like picking up various curbside orders. A car that is fully connected so you can kick back and watch Apple TV on a long trip. A car that doesn't log everywhere you go like Google's and other's likely will. A car that, perhaps, goes a step beyond in safety and security than other car makers.

It will be interesting to see how this shakes out. I just think it will take a lot more time. People don't upgrade their cars every year. At least not normal people. And it also takes time to get enough scale to make things affordable.
 
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69Mustang said:
What Nicolas Peter was actually saying: "Apple? Who cares. We've got bigger problems... as in our kidney grill design language is giant dumpster fire. Seriously, our grill is humungous for no apparent reason."

For real BMW, fix your 'ish.
Click to expand...
This times 100000000000
 
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az431 said:
Why is this even news? Did anyone expect a BMW executive to respond that they have an inferior product, are scared of competition, and would therefore be closing the company down?
Click to expand...
VW's CEO readily admits that Tesla is impossibly far ahead and that his goal is to be a "fast follower" and to make VW the second largest AV/EV company.

It's a good sign of leadership, I'd say, to be willing to acknowledge your shortcomings and to have a plan for how to address them. And it's not like being the second largest auto company will be a bad thing for VW - they've spent plenty of time behind GM or Toyota. For that matter, BMW isn't even a top 10 auto company - if they weren't so content with going nowhere, they have huge opportunities to expand. But I guess they're aware that they make trash and that nobody would buy a BMW truck or van - no company wants to own a fleet of BMWs because that'd be a colossal waste of money.
 
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