Apple will allegedly select the main Apple Car manufacturer by the end of 2022, with South Korean suppliers apparently already vying to provide parts.
HIGHLIGHTS
- Apple should select the main Apple Car manufacturer by the end of 2022
- Like with iPhone, Apple should outsource actual Apple Car production
- South Korean suppliers are allegedly vying to provide Apple Car parts
- Some companies have even formed a task force to win Apple’s business
South Korean suppliers form an Apple Car task force
That’s the gist of a new report by Korea IT News sourced from unnamed sources from the automotive supply chain. Secrecy, as you may imagine, is the name of the game here.
Here’s an excerpt from the report on Korea IT News:
The business related to Apple Car is being done under the surface. If the information is leaked a company, then the company may be removed from the supplier candidate. It is being handled very carefully.
Suppliers are of course perfectly aware that publicly discussing anything related to the Apple Car project means instantly putting themselves out of favor with the Cupertino giant. Case in point: As soon as Hyundai and Kia executives started blabbering on and on about working with Apple to build a car, Apple walked away from the potential agreement.
There are many parts companies that do not even consider becoming partners because the conditions that Apple car business demands are so harsh. And security is very strict, so sharing information is not easy.
The report adds that South Korean suppliers have banded together, forming an Apple Car task force of sorts to jointly get Apple’s alleged car-making business.
Apple accelerates autonomous vehicle development
Note the distinction here: Apple will choose which company will get to become the main contract manufacturer for Project Titan, its rumored electric autonomous vehicle. As to when that production partner might kick off Apple Car manufacture remains to be seen because the report doesn’t make it clear.
The Korea IT News report corroborates a recent research note by Wedbush lead analyst Daniel Ives, who predicted Apple would officially announce a strategic partnership for the project in 2022. “We would rather see Apple partner on the EV path, than start building its own vehicles/factories given the margin and financial model implications down the road, coupled with the strategic product risk around such a gargantuan endeavor,” Ives wrote.
Prior reporting said trial production would start in 2024 ahead of an official Apple Car launch in 2025. It wouldn’t be the first time Apple has visited South Korean car companies. Read: How to find local points of interest in Apple Maps in a new area
For instance, after previously dispatching its executives to LG Electronics and SK Group, a South Korean supplier that consists of 95 subsidiary companies, Apple’s men in suits on December 11, 2021, visited Toyota to discuss a potential car-making deal.