Volkswagen CEO isn't sure that Apple wants to build cars
The CEO of Volkswagen says he's certain Apple intends to expand CarPlay, but doesn't think it's likely to produce its own Apple Car.
Apple has publicly said that it has plans to bring a much enhanced CarPlay to more cars starting in late 2023. Now, though, Volkswagen's Herbert Diess says he suspects that's as far as Apple will go.
"I'm not sure if Apple will actually bring cars to the market in the end," said Diess, as first reported by Reuters. "It would be a big effort."
Diess said this during his opening keynote and Q&A at the start of the hub.berlin conference, which runs for two days from June 22, 2022. It's not clear yet whether he was responding to a question, or whether it was part of his introduction to the event.
According to Reuters, he did speak at the event of his certainty that Apple wants to provide software for what the car industry calls the "cockpit" of vehicles.
And Diess said in 2020 that he was "looking forward" to Apple's self-driving car. "The incredible valuation [of Apple] and thus the virtually unlimited access to resources instills a lot of respect in us," he said, in translation.
Read on AppleInsider
Apple has publicly said that it has plans to bring a much enhanced CarPlay to more cars starting in late 2023. Now, though, Volkswagen's Herbert Diess says he suspects that's as far as Apple will go.
"I'm not sure if Apple will actually bring cars to the market in the end," said Diess, as first reported by Reuters. "It would be a big effort."
Diess said this during his opening keynote and Q&A at the start of the hub.berlin conference, which runs for two days from June 22, 2022. It's not clear yet whether he was responding to a question, or whether it was part of his introduction to the event.
According to Reuters, he did speak at the event of his certainty that Apple wants to provide software for what the car industry calls the "cockpit" of vehicles.
And Diess said in 2020 that he was "looking forward" to Apple's self-driving car. "The incredible valuation [of Apple] and thus the virtually unlimited access to resources instills a lot of respect in us," he said, in translation.
Read on AppleInsider
Comments
Why reinvent the wheel, when they can make something to go on other people’s products. Far less hassle and far more money to be made in the latter.
These times have been quite successful so far after some initial hassles.
I also don’t think Apple would do their own manufacturing, given how they currently operate. But I agree that they might prefer to just stick to the high-margin software side of things.
When it comes to profit, Ford, for instance, makes $10-14,000 on each F150 they sell, sometimes much more if the customer loads up on options. It's extremely likely an Apple car isn't going to be an econobox, so they will profit handsomely, you can be sure. Then there's the service aspect, which you may not know is where car dealerships make the most money per vehicle. An Apple car will primarily be comprised of modular components, which will be replaced, not likely repaired.
There may be plenty of reasons for Apple not to build cars, but making money isn't going to be one of them.
Is there enough that needs to be redefined in the automotive market? Even if there is, how could Apple possibly dominate a product category like that? Apple can afford to attempt to compete in certain product categories (e.g. WiFi access points, expensive smart home speakers) and then to simply walk away from those products when market conditions change. It was not embarrassing for Apple to discontinue their AirPort routers or the full-size HomePod speaker — disappointing to some customers, yes, but not to investors or shareholders.
But the incredibly high startup costs of building a new car company? And the ridicule they would get if they started making cars but then had to discontinue them in, say, five or even 10 years? I don't see Apple wanting to do that.
I will certainly be happy, though, if Apple finds a way to get some of the mainstream automakers to partner with them to improve the entire in-car experience (the software, the controls) and/or even help the automotive industry advance its efforts toward safety and autonomous driving.
But when this tech is available, I will want it, and I will go for whatever brand has it.
They took the longest out off all automakers to support CarPlay in Brazil, they added wireless CarPlay this year.
I will buy a new car in 3 years, whatever brand has full CarPlay support will get my money.
Apple spending years and billions to supply an extension of iPhone only is NOT a good idea. At some point they would need hardware.
Car makers are good at building cars--terrible at designing and implementing the systems and GUI to run them. I think there's much more profit in Apple selling automakers what Apple is best at doing than there is in Apple manufacturing the whole car. We shall see.
My recent first experience driving a Tesla was most impressive--the voice recognition system worked astonishingly well across almost all systems. No need to get the commands just right--it always understood what I wanted and responded accordingly. And it doesn't get much better or easier than simply telling your car what you want it to do.