(Bloomberg) – Apple Inc.’s work on a car has brought up several potential manufacturing partners, capable of building a stand-alone electric vehicle for the tech giant.
The secret project has gained momentum in recent months, adding several former Tesla Inc. executives, gaining oversight from Apple’s top artificial intelligence executive and accelerating road tests. The initiative, known as Project Titan within Apple, is attracting intense interest because of its potential to turn heads for the automotive industry and supply chains, just as the iPhone did with the smartphone market.
Read more: the Apple car is less than half a decade away
If and when Apple commits to building a car, it is likely to look for several partners – including a large one to assemble the vehicle and many others to provide essential components. The following companies – whose representatives declined to comment – are possible candidates:
Foxconn
Foxconn Technology Group already has a close relationship with Apple. For more than a decade, it has been the United States company’s largest production partner, assembling most of the world’s iPhones and a large portion of its Macs and iPads from vast complexes that employ more than a million people across the globe. China.
In October, Foxconn, whose main listed arm is Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., unveiled its first electric vehicle chassis and software platform to help automakers get models to market faster. It also plans to launch a solid-state battery by 2024. The Taiwanese company, founded by billionaire Terry Gou, announced a plan in early 2020 to form a joint venture with Fiat Chrysler to develop and manufacture electric vehicles in China, although Foxconn won ‘be involved in any assembly itself. In January, Foxconn signed a manufacturing agreement with the Chinese startup of EVs Byton Ltd. with the aim of starting mass production of its M-Byte model in the first quarter of 2022. It also announced another venture with the Chinese company Zhejiang Geely Holding Group Co. to provide production and consulting services.
Magna
Magna, based in Ontario, Canada, is the world’s third largest car supplier in sales and has a contract manufacturing operation with years of experience in manufacturing complete car models for a variety of car brands.
Magna produces everything from chassis and car seats to sensors and software for driver assistance resources. Automakers, including BMW AG and Jaguar Land Rover, have hired their Magna Steyr unit and outsourced production to their factory in Graz, Austria. Magna also offers its engineering and manufacturing services to EV startups. Last fall, it agreed to provide Fisker Inc. with an EV platform for its Ocean SUV and added autonomous driving capabilities to the business in January. In December, Magna put about $ 450 million into a joint venture with Korean LG Electronics Inc. to make the EV powertrain. It is also expanding its production footprint in China, the largest EV market, by building the ArcFox Alpha-T for Beijing Automotive Group Co. – the first vehicle assembled outside Europe. It also has the benefit of a previous relationship with Apple: the two were in talks to build the Apple car when the iPhone maker started this path about five years ago.
Hyundai or Kia
Hyundai Motor Co. and its affiliate Kia Motors Corp. were the ones that have caught the most attention so far this year, thanks in part to Hyundai initially confirming reports in Korea last month that it was in talks with Apple. But the automaker quickly backed down and recently repeated that it was not in negotiations.
Hyundai and Kia have plants in the United States, Alabama and Georgia. Its dedicated EV platform will offer driving autonomy of more than 500 kilometers (311 miles) and will be able to recharge car batteries by up to 80% in 18 minutes. While the two sell EVs derived from existing models, they will start selling vehicles based on the dedicated model. March EV platform, helping to reduce costs and improve performance efficiency. They plan to launch 23 new combined EV models and sell 1 million units globally by 2025. The big downside of Hyundai and Kia is the recent shutdown about whether they are developing a car for Apple, a notoriously secretive company. Although the two automakers have said that negotiations are not taking place, it is possible that discussions will resume if Apple considers them the best possible partners.
Nissan
Although seen as a long shot, Nissan Motor Co. brings several elements to the table that could be beneficial for Apple.
Nissan already has a common EV platform developed with French partner Renault SA, which will be used for its compact Ariya SUV to be launched later this year. When asked whether the Japanese company would be willing to build cars for Apple, CEO Makoto Uchida said during a news conference that Nissan “has the DNA to do things that others will not do”. The automaker is plunged into a crisis, reporting its biggest loss in two decades in fiscal 2019 and could earn much-needed revenue from helping Apple develop or manufacture its vehicle. It could also benefit from access to Apple technology. After pursuing a volume strategy at any cost that erodes profit, Nissan needs to attract better-paying customers, especially with technology inside its cars.
Stellantis
One factor in determining a partner’s suitability for Apple may be the availability of production capacity. This may point to European automakers such as Stellantis NV, which has been hit by falling sales in the region and has free space in some factories.
Stellantis is under pressure to find synergies after the formation last month through the merger of PSA Group and Fiat Chrysler. Executive director Carlos Tavares said during a press conference on January 19 that Stellantis is open to working with Apple or any EV technology company, “as long as it does not create any technology dependency” that would jeopardize the automaker’s future . President John Elkann said in 2016 that the auto industry should work with “new industry players” like Google and Apple instead of trying to compete with them.
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