Today, Ming-Chi Kuo released the latest Apple research report. The report points out that Apple will cooperate with Hyundai Motor Group to develop the Apple Car. Specific details include: the Apple Car chassis will use the E-GMP platform with technical support from Hyundai Motor Group; Hyundai Mobis will be responsible for component design and production; Kia will provide production lines for Apple Car manufacturing.
According to the report, Foxconn Group is not Apple’s best partner in developing the Apple Car at present. The market is too optimistic about Apple Car orders from Foxconn, Pan-International, ESON, LONG TIME TECHNOLOGY, and G-TECH Optoelectronics. Only Foxconn Interconnect Technology in the Foxconn Group can obtain Apple Car orders.
Ming-Chi Kuo said that Apple’s in-depth cooperation with existing car manufacturers (Hyundai, GM, and PSA) with rich experience in development, production, and verification will significantly shorten Apple Car development time and create time-to-market advantages. We believe that Apple will make good use of existing car factory resources and focus on autonomous-driving software and hardware, semiconductors, battery-related technologies, exterior and interior design, innovative user experiences, and integration of the existing Apple ecosystem.
The report predicts that Apple will release the Apple Car as early as 2025. However, if Apple were to build its own full automotive supply chain, the Apple Car’s release date would surely be significantly later than 2025, which would hurt its competitive advantage.
The report also mentioned that the Apple car is expected to be positioned as a high-end model. Its price and component costs will be much higher than those of ordinary electric vehicles, which will benefit the profitability of partner automakers. Car manufacturers can also expand economies of scale and reduce costs through cooperation with Apple.
The report predicts that the Apple Car chassis will use the E-GMP platform instead of the MIH platform. Foxconn is unlikely to get the assembly orders for the Apple Car.