Apple Car wants the auto business to make its car, but it doesn’t want to share the profits. It’s finally over: Apple us to be known for being able to surprise the world with new products, but now their announcements get shar like a sieve.
From the PowerBook G4 in 2001 to the Apple Watch in 2014, the company has made a lot of big announcements during its keynote talks. How likely is it, though, that Tim Cook will make another announcement at an Apple event and this time pull back the curtain to show a car? It’s a story that has been going around for years and has recently gain more support.
Analysts and futurists have been saying for almost ten years that cars will turn into computers on wheels. Sam Livingstone, founder and director of Car Design Research, an automotive design consulting firm, says that ego is another factor. “Gi”en that they captur the zeitgeist of appealing consumer durables, you have to assume that there are people at the top of the organization who think this is the ultimate prize,” he says. It looks like it would make sense at first glance. Ellinghorst, on the other hand, start writing about a rumorApple car in 2014, when papers with the code name Titan from a project to make an Apple car were first made public.
It’s been seven years since we last met. Experts in the future have said for more than ten years that we are now seven years into the future. What did happen? Or, to be more precise, what did not happen?
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Center for Automotive Research in Duisburg
“I “call it the Loch Ness of the car industry,” says Ferdinand Dudenhöffer, who runs the Center for Automotive Research in Duisburg. It’s like Nessie: every time you hear about an Apple car in the news, it goes away. “F” We’ve seen this happen for ten years. It’s not likely that a story that lasts ten years will ever come true. “Fo” more than a decade, futurists and analysts have said that Apple will have to go its own way if it wants to build a car. The most recent rumors in the business world seem to back this up:
If Apple wants to make a car, it might have to go its own way. Mostly for practical reasons: making cars is hard, and Apple has the skills needed to do it well. To get into the market, it needs the help of a maker, which means it has to try to negotiate with an industry that is known for looking out for its own interests.
Apple is not known for being the best business partner that works with others. Intel, one of Apple’s most important partners, has been left idle since being dumped. Steve Jobs was known for making mobile phone network operators mad when he launched the iPhone. All of this comes down to Apple’s dominance in the auto business and the latter’s fight for survival.
If Apple got into the car business, it would be the big, bad guy in the corner. Ellinghorst says that Apple will be able to make 1 to 1.5 million cars by 2030 if it hits the market in 2024 or 2025.
“Is” the auto business not competitive? It’s clear that Apple will go after the high-end of the market if they do join, h” says. Some people aren’t as sure that this is true. With 85 million cars, this high-end market makes up about 15% of the world’s auto business. “Ap” le would make that field very crowded, and automakers are worried that they will let one of their biggest competitors into the market, Linghorst says.
Automobile makers are very independent and don’t let outside companies into their entertainment and navigation systems for fear of losing money. “In”unbent vehicle manufacturers can see this thing coming over the horizon at some speed,” says Livingstone. This means that making value will depend more and more on the digital services delivered in the car. “He” goes on to say that the risk is that automakers will make motor parts that are in bad shape. Around the same time, creative and interesting technology will be made by companies like Apple and Google.
“Who wants to be the Foxconn of cars?” asks Ellinghorst straight out. Who wants to be controlled? Apple is known for being tough when dealing with suppliers. “Who wants to be the one to let one of the world’s best-funded tech companies in?”
Companies that make cars have traditionally hired outside companies to do large parts of the manufacturing process. This usually happens in areas that customers don’t care about. For example, the Coventry-based Lear Corporation makes car seats for many different companies, but their production margins are low, and customers rarely look at the seat before getting into a car.
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Apple likes to get its way, as companies like Epic Games and Spotify know all too well. An Apple-branded entertainment system would be a lot more direct in terms of customer loyalty than a small tag on a seat. “If” you give away your car’s tracking system, “E” Linghorst says, “you’ll be in a lot of trouble.” What would happen to your car company as a maker would be completely up to Apple right away.
As Dudenhöffer puts it, “if” you give up control of the software system, you rest hardware deliverers. “Ha,” malware is a point where you can say, “If you don’t pay the right price for our software, we won’t give it to you, and you’ll have a problem.
Livingstone says that there are other problems even if Apple didn’t do that. “Th”‘s There’s something very concrete about the way the user would have to log in or be register to use that service that is truly different from their relationship with the car,” he says.
Still, there are still reports about Apple’s move into the car business. There are many more companies that want to be Apple’s software partner for cars. Magna already makes cars for BMW and Jaguar Land Rover and has talked with Apple in the past. Hyundai confirmed earlier this year that it was in talks with Apple. And Ellinghorst suggested that Foxconn could become the Foxconn of cars: in late February, it announced that it would be working with Fisker to make an electric vehicle, and production would start in late 2023.
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Ellinghorst, on the other hand, thinks there is still a chance to work together with a high-end manufacturer like BMW, despite all the doubts and failed tries in the past. In the middle of the 2010s, Apple and BMW stopped talking. It’s thought that BMW didn’t want to give up power over the production process and just supply Apple with hardware.
When ask about Apple getting into the car business earlier this month, BMW’s chief financial officer said he would “ep peacefully.” But both companies would have to quickly and drastically change the way they’ve been working together up until now. “You” would have to come to an agreement with Apple and say, “You’re not my Foxconn, you’re my genuine partner,” Linghorst says. “You” make things with us and can use all of our technology.
This second possibility might not seem likely, but it could happen. “Th “There’spoint of friction: car companies know thethey’llse something if they relinquish control, but they also know they won won’t be able to deliver on the promises people will demand in that area as well as these well-known software companies,” L” Vingstone says.
It’s call “fear of missing out” (FOMO). No car company wants to risk being. A junior partner in an agreement. but they also know that an Apple car. Will be such a big deal that if one company blinks and signs on, everyone else will lose out because they won’t be link to one of the most famous brands in the world. In the next few years, both Apple and the car business will have to change their minds if they want to work together on an official Apple car. So far, it has been impossible to square that circle. Apple, on the other hand, always comes up with new ideas.
Conclusion
The idea of an Apple Car.—often linked to the long-running Project Titan.—has remained one of the most persistent rumors in the tech and automotive industries. Despite years of speculation. partnerships talks, and industry analysis. the core challenge remains unresolved: Apple Inc. wants to maintain tight control over design, software, and profits, while traditional automakers are unwilling to become mere hardware suppliers.
This fundamental conflict—control vs. collaboration—has stalled progress more than technical limitations. Building cars requires massive capital, manufacturing expertise, and supply chain integration, areas where automakers dominate. However, the future of vehicles is increasingly software-driven, which plays directly to Apple’s strengths.
FAQs
Q: What is Project Titan?
Project Titan is the internal codename for Apple Inc.’s rumored electric and autonomous car initiative, first reported around 2014. It represents Apple’s exploration into the automotive sector.
Q: Why hasn’t Apple launched a car yet?
The main reason is strategic conflict. Apple prefers full control over products and profits, while automakers resist becoming contract manufacturers, making partnerships difficult to finalize.
Q: Could Apple build a car on its own?
Technically yes, but it would require huge. Investments in manufacturing, logistics, and regulatory compliance.—areas where Apple has limited direct experience. Compared to established automakers.
Q: Which companies could partner with Apple?
Potential partners discussed in the industry include. Hyundai Motor Company, BMW, Magna International. and Foxconn, though no confirmed long-term agreement exists.
Q: What impact would an Apple Car have on the industry?
If launched, it could disrupt. The premium EV. segment by shifting value toward. Software ecosystem integration. and user experience.—potentially forcing traditional. automakers to rethink their business models.
