Apple is evidently accelerating the development of its own car.
After the end of the liaison with Hyundai, analysts are now speculating about further partners.
Apple
is apparently serious about entering the auto business.
Between 2019 and 2020, the Californians covered around 30,000 kilometers with their fleet of self-driving cars.
But the group is looking for a
partner
for further development and construction
.
Munich - With the Korean car manufacturer Hyundai, they could hardly believe their luck at the turn of the year.
Yes, they are "in early talks with Apple * about the development of a self-driving car," the company confirmed to media reports at the beginning of January, thus giving the share an unimaginable soaring.
Within a few minutes, the paper shot up a good 20 percent.
At the Apple headquarters in Cupertino, however, the press stunt in the Far East was not at all well received.
Group boss Tim Cook * is not said to have been amused at all about the Korean PR offensive and let him know.
The dismayed Hyundai management then quickly rowed back.
You constantly receive requests for cooperation from other companies, the company said shortly afterwards.
In the meantime, the American-Korean liaison is probably over for good.
There are currently no talks with Apple to build autonomous cars, Hyundai announced on Monday in a letter to the stock exchange regulator in Seoul.
Apple Car: Industry speculates about possible partners
Since then, there has been a lot of noise in the industry.
After the end of Hyundai and its daughter Kia, observers feverishly speculate who might one day build the mysterious Apple Car * (code name: Project Titan)
The requirement profile is clear.
The potential partner must have a global production network and expertise in e-cars, says Commerzbank auto analyst Demian Flowers on Wednesday to Merkur.de *.
Apple Car: The list of candidates is long
According to analysts, Ford, GM, Nissan and the new auto giant Stellantis (FiatChrysler, Opel, PSA) are considered possible candidates.
VW * would also “technically fit”, believes Flowers.
However, the Wolfsburg-based company wants to work with Microsoft on the development of software for automated driving, as the company surprisingly announced on Thursday (February 11).
VW is probably out of the running as a potential Apple partner.
Jürgen Pieper from Bankhaus Metzler believes that there would be only one manufacturer left in Germany.
In this country, the well-known car analyst told Merkur.de *, “only BMW * is imaginable”.
That is due to the corporate culture.
Both Daimler and VW are "too dominant in their nature".
The Munich car manufacturer, on the other hand, is considered particularly innovative, fast and flexible.
According to the industry, BMW has already built e-cars with the i3 and i8 when arch-rivals Mercedes-Benz and VW laughed at their white and blue competitors as eco-crazy.
Apple Car: BMW declines to comment
BMW rejects a comment on the considerations about Apple.
"As usual, we do not comment on market or media speculations," said a company spokesman.
One thing is clear: Whoever gets involved with the Californians in building the Apple Car will not have it easy.
In the industry, the iPhone manufacturer is known to be control-obsessed and profit-fixated.
Apple, says Commerzbank analyst Flowers, “is uncompromising”.
The group shares “neither its knowledge, nor its data nor its profits” with its partners.
A look at Apple's most important hardware partners Foxconn and Pegatron shows that.
Despite the close connection with the Californians, the shares of the Chinese contract manufacturers are valued comparatively cheaply on the stock exchange.
Investors considered both companies basically interchangeable.
The manufacturer of an Apple Car could face a similar fate.
Much more than an image boost would hardly be possible.
* Merkur.de is part of the Ippen Digital network.