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I didn't read the whole thread. There were a lot of post saying we make this and we can make that too but did anyone mention that Apple devices are made in China not America?
 
The problem with the auto industry, or more specifically, GM, was that at the time, its financing division was making all the money. When the housing market crashed, so did GMAC.

Following your line of reasoning, we should let all institutions that are poorly run fail; housing, finance, the automotive industry, retail, manufacturing, agriculture and practically every other industry in the food chain, including Health Care.

Sure there would have been replacements, given enough time, but the depth of a depression that would have devastating to your population would have been a revolution in the making, and probably not in a good way.

Current events: See Europe, specifically Greece.

but that assumes that a slippery slope is allowed.

I don't believe in private industry receiving welfare. If you can't succeed as a private entity, tough.

public works is completely different though. SO i wouldn't include healthcare and food safety and those in my statement of "let them fail"
 
Apple's not making a car, plain and simple. At most, autonomous car technology. At least, mapping like Google Street View.

This is some of the stupidest speculation I've ever seen by the media regarding Apple's future product lineup.
 
I'm not entirely sure GM knows what they're doing when it comes to the car industry either.

If Apple were to go into the auto industry, I feel they would collaborate with a well respected automaker. I don't see why people are acting like they're going to start up their own car company.
 
I bet Tim Cook et al, including Steve who ascended into iCloud are laughing their asses off at these auto exec's that are obviously scared out of their mind. Weather or not they release something they have got to be laughing at these guys.
 
because we all know it's much much harder to turn a large piece of steel into a large moving vehicle than it is to take a piece of aluminum and a pile of rare minerals and turn them into 6mm slabs of glass and metal with instant access to the breadth of mankind's knowledge. Is this guy the idiot who tanked GM or the guy who wanted to take credit for getting the govt to bail it out? "Giving Tesla a run for its money" has absolutely zero to do with giving Detroit dinosaurs a run for theirs.

Am I reading this incorrectly or are you actually asserting it's harder or more complicated to build a cellphone? Please tell me I'm reading that wrong. If not, wow.
 
From the man who turned this....

[url=http://cdn.macrumors.com/im/macrumorsthreadlogodarkd.png]Image[/url]


Amid rumors that Apple is developing an electric vehicle, former General Motors CEO Dan Akerson has shared his opinion on Apple's plans, suggesting the Cupertino company avoid getting into a business with such low margins.

In an interview with Bloomberg, Akerson said that Apple may be underestimating the difficulty of operating in the car business, as it's hard to navigate regulatory and safety requirements. "A lot of people who don't ever operate in it don't understand and have a tendency to underestimate," he saidAccording to Akerson, Apple should stick with the iPhone, which has much higher margins than a car and none of the issues with safety. As highlighted by Bloomberg, while Apple made $18 billion in December with a gross margin of 39.9 percent, GM made just $2 billion with a gross margin of 14 percent.

Akerson doesn't believe Apple should get into the car business, but he does admire Apple's entrance into the car infotainment arena with CarPlay. Speaking on his time as CEO of General Motors, Akerson said that he absolutely would have partnered with Apple. "I'd have turned over the infotainment and interconnectivity of every car."

News of Apple's electric car plans surfaced last week after The Wall Street Journal shared details on a secret project at the company. Apple is said to have hundreds of employees working on the car in a secret research lab near its Cupertino headquarters. The car, which is electric, could potentially resemble a minivan.

Article Link: Former GM CEO on Apple Car: 'They Have No Idea What They're Getting Into'

Concept...

chevrolet_volt_concept.jpg

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...into this reality...


chevy-volt-lease-2011-chevrolet-volt-1jpg-picture.jpg

20101019_2011-chevy-volt-interior_612mz.jpg


Acres and acres of bad plastic, not to mention the engineering calamity that ensued. And he probably wonders why they've sold about ten of them...if they brought out the top one, they wouldn't have been able to build them fast enough. Typical GM crap since the 60's.

Twit of the year candidate. And let me guess; Bush 2016?

Cheers,
Cameron
 
Why do people here have to constantly kiss Apple ass?

A car is a low margin high competition field. It's also one where you need to know how engines work, change oil, etc. You need locations where somebody can come to get their car serviced, you need to hire workers to do it, etc. All of these things could take years.

This is kind of like a thermonuclear astrophysicist declaring his intention to retire and join the UFC, while all of you clap at once. There's a chance the scientist could have a muscular body, or a big body build that a few years of gym would bring out, but the main chance is that he's a wimpy guy who is gonna get his ass handed to him.
 
So ... Apple shouldn't get into low margin, highly regulated lines of business that they aren't familiar with. So a few years ago they should have stayed away from making things like cell phones?
 
What a joke this guy is.
What he doesn't realize is Apple isn't going to sell a 10 cent car. It will be a car that everyone wants, and if they want it, they will pay for it. Margins will be plenty high, or they wouldn't even consider it.

Askerson certainly isn't in a position to tell Apple what they should or shouldn't do.

[url=http://cdn.macrumors.com/im/macrumorsthreadlogodarkd.png]Image[/url]


Amid rumors that Apple is developing an electric vehicle, former General Motors CEO Dan Akerson has shared his opinion on Apple's plans, suggesting the Cupertino company avoid getting into a business with such low margins.

In an interview with Bloomberg, Akerson said that Apple may be underestimating the difficulty of operating in the car business, as it's hard to navigate regulatory and safety requirements. "A lot of people who don't ever operate in it don't understand and have a tendency to underestimate," he saidAccording to Akerson, Apple should stick with the iPhone, which has much higher margins than a car and none of the issues with safety. As highlighted by Bloomberg, while Apple made $18 billion in December with a gross margin of 39.9 percent, GM made just $2 billion with a gross margin of 14 percent.

Akerson doesn't believe Apple should get into the car business, but he does admire Apple's entrance into the car infotainment arena with CarPlay. Speaking on his time as CEO of General Motors, Akerson said that he absolutely would have partnered with Apple. "I'd have turned over the infotainment and interconnectivity of every car."

News of Apple's electric car plans surfaced last week after The Wall Street Journal shared details on a secret project at the company. Apple is said to have hundreds of employees working on the car in a secret research lab near its Cupertino headquarters. The car, which is electric, could potentially resemble a minivan.

Article Link: Former GM CEO on Apple Car: 'They Have No Idea What They're Getting Into'
 
Why is it a bad idea? Just because it's complex? Apple has the biggest war chest in the world and incredible manufacturing expertise. Why wouldn't they think big and enter markets ripe for so-called disruption? Car interfaces are just incredibly bad. They lag behind current technology by 5-10 years. It's a perfect scenario for Apple to jump in and capitalize on all of their strengths to build something that could be very interesting.
And lose money hand over fist. It is a bad idea because:
  • Even if you accept that car interfaces are ripe for disruption, and I don't, they can enter that field without building a whole car.
  • The automotive industry is not ripe for disruption. There are a lot of players in the market. Apple has nothing to bring to drive trains, or safety, or interior design that others aren't already trying.
  • This reminds me of all the talk about an Apple television set. You know why we haven't seen one? Because lots of other players are in the market already and Apple could not disrupt it.
  • So much of cars is driven by laws and lawsuits and liability that Apple could not break out of the box as they like to do. An Apple car would still have the same layout that most every other car on the road does because that's what the law requires.
  • Apple has no dealer network or trained service technicians. All of that would have to be built up from zero. People expect to have a dealer fairly close by. The exception is specialized boutique cars like the Tesla and oh look, they're losing money.
Apple making things for cars, improving maps, coming up with an interface and controls is good. Invent the best in breed and let other companies install it in the cars they make. Apple does not have to reinvent the wheel to make a better car.They would lose their shirt on such an endeavor.
 
Apple is not building a car. PERIOD. And I get it, people said the same thing about a phone but a phone and a car are COMPLETELY different. Apple focuses on hardware, software, and services. A car doesn't fit into any one of these buckets.

Where Apple COULD be spending it's time is on the software a car uses to operate. My thought is that the iPhone will be the brains behind things like navigation, self-driving, music, etc. and the car will just read from that. This would allow for a car company to sell the car for cheaper because they don't need the brains or software to handle this stuff and Apple could get people more engrained in the Apple ecosystem.

PLUS - this could be good for things like the Apple Watch... Auto unlock your car, remote start, etc.
 
Apple are so successful at the moment that they could use an Apple car as a loss-making brand builder. The GM guy is right in that to bring an all-new car to the mainstream market place costs extreme money but Apple have that money.

Tesla came from nothing and to be honest Tesla's over-rated - it's only innovation is being prepared to slap a big sticker price on an all-electric car thus enabling more batteries to be crammed in for a more realistic range. The Model S looks like some big coupe Ford might put out - it's attractive but a bit obvious.

I'm 50:50 on whether Apple is seriously considering this.
 
A lot of posters here seem to think that what worked in one category automatically means success in another.

Phones are not cars. Watches are not phone. And so on. Do I think Apple has a great success record - of course. But the past doesn't equal the future when it comes to new products.
 
i agree....seriously apple doesn't know what they are getting into. stick to electronics. i can see the headlines now: icar, the self driving car, plunges off a bridge while using apple maps to navigate. lawsuits ensues.
 
Apple will show you how to make cars. GM motors have no idea what will hit them.

Oh God, gimme a break.

And I'm sure that if Apple got into the medical device industry, that the prosthetic limb companies or makers of the artificial heart would go out of business the next day. Just because a company is very successful in one industry doesn't automatically mean they'll be successful (let alone dominate) in another.

Arrogant and smug comments like the ones above are exactly why Apple fanboys have the annoying and undesirable reputation they have and always will. Just like this guy:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FFhjDX-DUew​


maxresdefault.jpg
 
Why is it a bad idea? Just because it's complex? Apple has the biggest war chest in the world and incredible manufacturing expertise. Why wouldn't they think big and enter markets ripe for so-called disruption? Car interfaces are just incredibly bad. They lag behind current technology by 5-10 years. It's a perfect scenario for Apple to jump in and capitalize on all of their strengths to build something that could be very interesting.
And lose money hand over fist. It is a bad idea because:
  • Apple has no expertise in drive trains or power plants or doors or airbags, or windows, or any of the thousand things that go into building a car. These are all different branches of engineering from the computer and devices they have been making. Engineers are not interchangeable parts. It would be like taking a Psychologist and asking him to do cardiac surgery because hey, he is a Doctor.
  • Even if you accept that car interfaces are ripe for disruption, and I don't, they can enter that field without building a whole car.
  • The automotive industry is not ripe for disruption. There are a lot of players in the market. Apple has nothing to bring to drive trains, or safety, or interior design that others aren't already trying.
  • This reminds me of all the talk about an Apple television set. You know why we haven't seen one? Because lots of other players are in the market already and Apple could not disrupt it.
  • So much of cars is driven by laws and lawsuits and liability that Apple could not break out of the box as they like to do. An Apple car would still have the same layout that most every other car on the road does because that's what the law requires.
  • Apple has no dealer network or trained service technicians. All of that would have to be built up from zero. People expect to have a dealer fairly close by. The exception is specialized boutique cars like the Tesla and oh look, they're losing money.
Apple making things for cars, improving maps, coming up with an interface and controls is good. Invent the best in breed and let other companies install it in the cars they make. Apple does not have to reinvent the wheel to make a better car.They would lose their shirt on such an endeavor.
 
I'm very confident in Apple's ability to make great products. However, there are quite a few people comparing Apple's jump into the mobile phone market with a jump into the automotive industry. Surely you can understand the difference between making a small computer like the iPhone and making an automobile...
Apple will figure this out. Or it will figure out a way to make it irrelevant.

Apparently Apple's attempt to get into the television market fell apart because the providers of content already had contracts with the likes of Comcast to prevent a newcomer like Apple from revamping the television.

Apple didn't need to crack the entire phone market when it came up with the iPhone. It signed exclusive deals with certain carriers.

It could try a similar tactic with an Apple Car. If their car is both electric and automatically driven, they could partner with someone like Disney to ferry families from the various hotels to the parks (along private roads). The journey could feature "random" bicyclists and pedestrians (actually Disney cast members). For a lot of people, this would be their first experience with autonomous cars. For Apple, it would be a showcase of its driverless car tech. For Disney, it would be an attraction in itself, both for the passengers and for, say, other guests dining in a restaurant overlooking a "busy intersection".
 
Further - GM has been in the industry since 1908. Bailout or not - that's a rich history of making automobiles. Anyone who wants to "discredit" them can go ahead. However, those that do only look silly - to me anyway.
 
Honestly, Apple doesn't have to know anything about constructing vehicles. They will hire the best to do it for them and grow into that market.

Also, the car frames are only made of steel. The rest is cheap fiberglass and plastic, basically. I'm pretty sure apple could beat every company down for giving us a unibody steel vehicle. One that looks great and is great for your safety.

I'm ready for Apple to be on top completely. Technology will be integrated into everything we have/do because it makes life better. Period. This is bound to happen.
 
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