Amid doubts of reaching a final agreement to manufacture its electric self-driving car
"Apple" is close to concluding a deal with "Hyundai - Kia"
The Apple Car is tentatively scheduled to go into production in 2024. Archive
After years of speculation that it will eventually enter the car industry with its own car, the American company "Apple" is close to concluding a deal with the "Hyundai - Kia" group to manufacture an electric autonomous car bearing the "Apple" trademark at the "Kia" assembly plant in West Point, Georgia, USA.
"CNBC" news network quoted sources at "Apple" as saying that the car, called "Apple Car", which is being developed by a specialized team at the company, will enter production in 2024. Although people familiar with the talks between the two companies are skeptical of the completion of the agreement, and contend that its final offering may be postponed.
Deal
The sources added that no agreement had been reached between "Hyundai - Kia" and "Apple", indicating that "Apple" might finally decide to partner with another car maker separately, or add it to work with "Hyundai".
And it reported that "Hyundai" might not be the only car maker with which Apple could strike a deal.
"CNBC" reported that "Apple" shares rose by more than 2% hours after the news of the new partnership was leaked, pointing out that spokesmen for "Apple" and "Hyundai - Kia" refused to comment about this when the network correspondent contacted them. .
new Horizons
CNBC explained that for Apple, the decision to manufacture a self-driving car opens new avenues for the possibility of benefiting from the global auto market, which is valued at $ 10 trillion.
The network quoted an analyst at Morgan Stanley, Katie Huberty, that the profit potential of "Apple" from the smart phone market, which is worth 500 billion dollars annually, is very large, explaining that "Apple" alone has a share equivalent to about a third of this market. The size of the auto market is about 10 trillion dollars.
Huberty added that "Apple" would need only a 2% share of the car market to reach the volume of sales of the "iPhone".
She indicated that the tech giant wants to manufacture an "Apple Car" in North America with a well-established car maker willing to allow Apple to control the software and hardware that will enter the car, saying: "In other words, this will be (an Apple car), not a new model of (Kia) cars display and use (Apple) software. ”
Speed up plans
As for Hyundai-Kia, the work with Apple was driven by the company's new chairman, Eusen Chung, who took over the management of the Korean carmaker last October.
According to a source familiar with the strategy of the Korean auto giant, Chung believes that by working with "Apple", the company will accelerate the development of its plans for self-driving and electric cars.
The source said that there was no indication that the joint venture would change if Hyundai reached an agreement with Apple.
Features
While it is still unclear exactly what the first "Apple" car will look like, those familiar with the company's plans say that there are some salient features. A source familiar with the current plan stated that the first Apple cars would not be designed so that Have a driver, adding: “These will be autonomous electric vehicles designed to operate without a driver, and focused on the last mile, which could mean that (Apple) cars, at least initially, could focus on food deliveries and companies that operate on a system. The (robot) ».
Direct competition
CNBC News reported that the move to manufacture a joint car between "Apple" and "Hyundai-Kia" could lead to the American technology giant entering into direct competition with "Tesla", which offers autonomous driving features for its vehicles. The company's CEO, Elon Musk, to the investors, that converting Tesla into automatic self-driving cars could help justify the re-evaluation of the company, pointing out that the cars will be used for more hours per day, allowing Tesla to earn higher revenues per car.
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