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Fiat Chrysler Open to Working With Apple as VW Seeks Other Partners

MacRumors said:



Apple-car-silhouette-250x218.jpg
Fiat Chrysler Automobiles is in the late stage of talks with Google parent company Alphabet Inc. about an industry partnership involving self-driving car technology, according to automotive blog Autoextremist and The Wall Street Journal.

Moreover, Fiat Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne has reportedly indicated that he is open to working with a tech giant, including Alphabet or Apple, in order to build more scale and help offset automotive-related production and development costs.

On the contrary, Volkswagen CEO Matthias Mueller said that its ongoing discussions with potential partners to start new digital mobility businesses do not involve Apple or Alphabet, as reported by Reuters.

The negotiations follow multiple reports that claim Apple is actively researching and developing an electric vehicle that could enter mass production by 2019 at the earliest. The so-called "Apple Car" team, known as "Project Titan" internally, is believed to include hundreds of employees that previously worked at Ford, General Motors, Land Rover, Tesla Motors, Texas Instruments, and elsewhere.

Apple also reportedly failed to reach manufacturing partnerships with Daimler and BMW.

Article Link: Fiat Chrysler Open to Working With Apple as VW Seeks Other Partners
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This is pure junk-journo speculation. But, Fiat Chrysler dont sound cool or evoke glamour.
Here in the UK US cars don't have a great reputation for quality of components or build so if Apple is to persist in this aberration they must tie up with an inspiring partner.
 
Good freaking jeebus! Marchionne is just trying to hook up with anyone. Everyone in the industry turned him down so now he's turning to the tech industry. As others have said, FC cars have terrible QC and atrocious reliability. If Apple were to go down that road with Fiat the end product would be garbage. Don't do it Apple or Alphabet.
 
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CFreymarc said:
Unlike the American mindset of "no shame from a mistake", in Germany and most of Europe, it is common to see people and groups retreat from public interaction when a mistake or other folly occurs. Another reason why I never took a job on the other side of the pond.
[doublepost=1461868804][/doublepost]
GM has been run by accountants for the past 40-years. Killing the Saturn, Oldsmobile and Pontiac divisions were some the biggest mistakes they made recently. This is why John DeLorean and other very creative forces left GM in the late 70's.
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Killing those brands was a mistake? Are you kidding? They were all badge engineered crap that diluted the company. Frankly I think they should have followed Toyota's lead and gone with Chevy and Cadillac only. Would have been more focused, but Buick is crazy popular in China.
 
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I think it's obvious why Apple would like to say their car is built by BMW or Daimler: marketing pedigree. Apple wouldn't publicly state who's building their vehicle but everyone will know, and so it's of huge importance to them. That Daimler or BMW expected some control of the vehicle's software is laughable.
 
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mr.steevo said:
Aren't Chrysler/Fiat vehicles ranked low for reliability?
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Yes, I have to laugh though because I just bought a 2014 Durango. The styling did it for me and the eight speed. Looks better than any of its competition IMO. Couldn't help it. We'll see how it goes.
 
Adithya007 said:
It would be a better bet for Apple to seriously step up its PERSONAL COMPUTER game instead of working on something that they have had no experience at.... LIKE A CELLULAR PHONE.

Seriously, They're trying to leave that which is in their hands to catch hold of something that which is flying high above their heads.
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...Fixed that for you. (and yes I realize that cellular phones and computers are both consumer electronic devices so they're related and that automobiles are completely out of Apple's usual wheelhouse.)
 
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Adithya007 said:
It would be a better bet for Apple to seriously step up its iPhone game instead of working on something that they have had no experience at....

Seriously, They're trying to leave that which is in their hands to catch hold of something that which is flying high above their heads.
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They had no experience with music players or phones at one point. New ideas often come from new players.
 
mr.steevo said:
Aren't Chrysler/Fiat vehicles ranked low for reliability?
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As is BMW (second lowest behind Land rover).

Apple is playing with fire here. They need to get this right or else it could be a big dent in their brand. It isn't Steve at the helm and it's not like Timmy has been hitting home runs...
 
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I think a lot of you guys are missing the point.

Foxconn, who makes iPhones, manufactures very high quality electronics. They also manufacture very low quality, cheap crap. They are contractor that makes whatever you designed, according to your specifications. If you have big enough pull, like with Apple, you can also dictate a lot about how it is manufactured, the quality control, the methods used, the workforce that's acceptable, the chemicals that are not acceptable, even to the point of where the raw materials can come from. Basically Apple specifies everything and then sets Foxconn to work.

So if Fiat/Chrysler were to build the Apple car, it is inherently unfair to assume that the result will be just as bad as Fiat/Chrysler's cars. Those cars were engineered by Fiat, then built to Fiat's specifications, and finally checked with Fiat's quality control methods.

An Apple car built by Fiat will be inherently different. Apple will design the car, Apple will dictate the required specifications, and Apple will specify the quality control. Fiat will just be providing the roof and turning the wrenches. Apple wants Fiat (or BMW, or Mercedes, or whomever) to be the Foxconn of their cars.

In many cases, Apple actually specifies the manufacturing method itself because it is inherently required for their designs. This has included methods not previously used for phones and computers. For example, laser drilling for speaker holes and CNC machining for unibody laptops.

Granted, cars aren't laptops. But neither are gigantic buildings, and look at the crazy specifications and levels of attention that they are using for their new mothership in Cupertino. In order to meet Apple's requirements, the contractors have had to invent new ways to build things--they aren't just haphazardly slapping concrete slabs together like they always have.

So it is almost inconceivable to me that Apple would suddenly allow sloppy manufacturing and poor fit & finish on what will be their first vehicle ever, in an entirely new and important product category for them. Especially considering the truly massive amount of media attention that this will receive worldwide. There will be an army of reporters from the Wall Street Journal to the home office blogger who are going to scrutinize this car to death.

I'm not going to pretend this Apple car is going to be the greatest car ever. Apple's first gen on a lot of their products have issues, same as everyone else. I'm just saying that it won't be anything like a Fiat/Chrysler, for better or for worse.

TL;DR
This is going to be an Apple car, not a Fiat car with an Apple sticker on the hood.
 
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8281 said:
Killing those brands was a mistake? Are you kidding? They were all badge engineered crap that diluted the company. Frankly I think they should have followed Toyota's lead and gone with Chevy and Cadillac only. Would have been more focused, but Buick is crazy popular in China.
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Yes it was. There was many offers to buy those brands from GM but they decided to kill them off instead of letting others do it better with GM loosing face in the global market.
 
CFreymarc said:
GM has been run by accountants for the past 40-years. Killing the Saturn, Oldsmobile and Pontiac divisions were some the biggest mistakes they made recently. This is why John DeLorean and other very creative forces left GM in the late 70's.
Click to expand...

Mistakes? Those were all dying brands with the majority of their lineup simply rebadged Chevys. Not even different sheetmetal or interiors, literally the exact same car with just a different bumper/grille and logo on it. You don't need to be selling 3 copies of the same car with a different logo on it. Good riddance IMO. They should have gotten rid of Buick too.

GM has stepped up their game in the 2010's and their material quality and designs are leagues better than just a decade ago. I still think their brands can use more trimming down since there is still some rebadging going on (mainly the trucks and full size SUVs), but much better than before.
 
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Sounds about right from VW. I leased a Jetta in '07. The steering wheel had volume buttons and a phone answer/end call button. I was a little excited to be able to use Bluetooth when the salesman informed me that they didn't actually do anything. VW apparently decided to go with some other proprietary connection (don't remember what it was) that I think was only ever used briefly in Europe/Germany. For the US model they didn't bother to remove them. Years later when I took it in for an oil change they had a sign advertising a $400+ option to add Bluetooth.
 
ActionableMango said:
I think a lot of you guys are missing the point.

Foxconn, who makes iPhones, manufactures very high quality electronics. They also manufacture very low quality, cheap crap. They are contractor that makes whatever you designed, according to your specifications. If you have big enough pull, like with Apple, you can also dictate a lot about how it is manufactured, the quality control, the methods used, the workforce that's acceptable, the chemicals that are not acceptable, even to the point of where the raw materials can come from. Basically Apple specifies everything and then sets Foxconn to work.

So if Fiat/Chrysler were to build the Apple car, it is inherently unfair to assume that the result will be just as bad as Fiat/Chrysler's cars. Those cars that were engineered by Fiat, then built to Fiat's specifications, and checked with Fiat's quality control methods.

An Apple car built by Fiat will be inherently different. Apple will design the car, Apple will dictate the required specifications, and Apple will specify the quality control. Fiat will just be providing the roof and turning the wrenches. Apple wants Fiat (or BMW, or Mercedes, or whomever) to be the Foxconn of their cars.

In many cases, Apple actually specifies the manufacturing method itself because it is inherently required for their designs. This has included methods not previously used for phones and computers. For example, laser drilling for speaker holes and CNC machining for unibody laptops.

Granted, cars aren't laptops. But neither are gigantic buildings, and look at the crazy specifications and levels of attention that they are using for their new mothership in Cupertino. The contractors have had to invent new ways to build things--they aren't just haphazardly slapping concrete slabs together.

So it is almost inconceivable to me that Apple would suddenly allow sloppy manufacturing and poor fit & finish on what will be their first vehicle ever, in an entirely new and important product category for them. Especially considering the truly massive amount of media attention that this will receive worldwide. There will be an army of reporters from the Wall Street Journal to the home office blogger who are going to scrutinize this car to death.

I'm not going to pretend this Apple car is going to be the greatest car ever. Apple's first gen on a lot of their products have issues, same as everyone else. I'm just saying that it won't be anything like a Fiat/Chrysler, for better or for worse.

TL;DR
This is going to be an Apple car, not a Fiat with an Apple sticker on the hood.
Click to expand...

Spot on sir.
 
If Apple wanted a contract "builder" for their car, they would've turned to for example Valmet in Finland who has excellent experience and are highly skilled after building cars like Porsche. But trying to work with a "complete" car manufacturer, I'm sure they wanted access to testing facilities and laboratories that has decades of super specialist knowledge and experience not easily "bought" from another company.
There is a HUGE difference in building an electronic gadget and a motor vehicle. To get you gadget on the market you only need to pass some pretty basic stuff from FCC or other regulatory bodies and your gadget is highly unlikely to kill or maim during it's very short lifetime. Cars on the other hand need lots of testing and certifications and are expected to live on for decades during which the manufacturer is responsible for every little safety defect.
 
ActionableMango said:
Apple wants Fiat (or BMW, or Mercedes, or whomever) to be the Foxconn of their cars.
Click to expand...

I think there is more to it than that. If Apple just wanted someone to build an Apple car to Apple's specs, there are companies out there that do just that (example). The fact that instead Apple is talking to companies like BMW and Mercedes is IMO indicative of the fact they need someone to partner with who knows a little about engineering cars.
 
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Adithya007 said:
It would be a better bet for Apple to seriously step up its iPhone game instead of working on something that they have had no experience at....

Seriously, They're trying to leave that which is in their hands to catch hold of something that which is flying high above their heads.
Click to expand...

You mean like cellphones in 2007?
 
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