Retired GM chief Dan Akerson likens rumored Apple car program to 'trying to cough up a hairball'

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  • Reply 101 of 143
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Slurpy View Post

     
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Rogifan View Post





    Just to be clear I'm not agreeing with him that Apple's prices are outrageous. But the only reason these guys have a chance imo is because Apple has ceded the low end.

     

    True. But I don't even know if Apple could lower the prices of their phones if they wanted to. I mean, they're barely managing to meet demand with the ASP as it is now. A cheap iPhone would wipe everything else off the map, the only issue would be that Apple would not be able to manufacture at that capacity. 


    Apple doesn't manufacture squat, but I think what you are saying is that China doesn't have enough employable people if Apple tried to enter the low end market... I agree.

  • Reply 102 of 143
    Eh, I worry a little bit about the car rumor, because I think it is true to the max.

    But then, I also worried a lot more years ago when Apple made the decision to open retail stores (visions of the Gateway implosion).

    I needn't worry though. They will likely do well with it. At the very least they are sure to have a sries of exit ramps at every stage. What will they make? I doubt it will be any interface for most makes of cars, simply because of the large number of computers in them already and you can imagine the mfgs won't turn loose of any of those specs (which they probably spent a ridiculous amount of money to develop). Then again, maybe Apple could talk to them...

    I think they will go whole hog on this venture. They DO like to control the whole widget. Their whole executive suite is full of car fanatics. Cars are ripe for disruption and are an important part of life. I've been thinking this since 2010, however, so I'm early.
    I also think their poor experience with Samsung and others may make them think twice about outsourcing.

    I dunno what they will make. Hoping it's made out of carbon fiber ( super safe and lightweight but hard to make). I'll just be an ass and quote myself from 2011:

    palomine wrote: »
    Who knows what Apple might do with it's cash. I can sure daydream. Maybe they will do something huge, like buy a car manufacturer and redesign bunch of carbon fiber interchangeable bodies to go on top of an all electric drive train. Buy one drive chain and pop on this years new carbon fiber sportscar body. Or mini truck. Collect them all and hang em on your garage wall The hardest part of this possibility would be the drive chain. There are others all ready with the battery-swap station infrastructure. Its not really so far out of their core competencies....


    Maybe they will build their own semiconductor plant. They are probably the only company that I wouldn't be asking for a rebate from their cash hoard. Whatever they do it will be exciting to watch.
  • Reply 103 of 143
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by thrang View Post



    He looks a little bit, and sounds a little bit, like Ballmer mocking the iPhone way back...



    Yes, he definitely looks like Ballmer. 

     

    When you see executives like these making comments like he did, what they are really saying is "Oh sh*t! We better get our act together!"

  • Reply 104 of 143
    mcdavemcdave Posts: 1,927member
    Are GM really the Apple of the car industry? If he were a BMW or Mercedes exec he may have a point. Doesn't he know that 11% probably sounds great to a lot of Android licensees who occupy the equivalent market position?
  • Reply 105 of 143
    dasanman69dasanman69 Posts: 13,002member
    Yeah, I'm sure the telecom industry said the same thing when Apple decided to make a phone in-house.

    Isn't this what all the telecom companies said about apple entering a phone business?

    You're confusing phone manufacturers for telecoms, which provide service to whomever makes a phone.
  • Reply 106 of 143
    If you're a dealer or salesman, you better prepare for a new career. This won't just revolutionize the car itself, but also the way people [B]buy[/B] cars.
  • Reply 107 of 143
    dasanman69dasanman69 Posts: 13,002member
    smurfman wrote: »
    If you're a dealer or salesman, you better prepare for a new career. This won't just revolutionize the car itself, but also the way people buy cars.

    No it won't.
  • Reply 108 of 143
    This is the funniest thing I've heard in a long time. A completely washed-up worthless has-been giving advice to the strongest logistics-juggernaut company in history.

    GM can't engineer their way out a wet newspaper and the world is somehow listening to this BS?

    FREAKING HILARIOUS.
  • Reply 109 of 143
    ..
  • Reply 110 of 143
    quinneyquinney Posts: 2,528member
    Would be cool if Apple teamed up with Solar City and Musk to develop the home-scale battery technology that is to be revealed soon (this week?).

    Why do Solar City and Musk need Apple? They are already doing it themselves.
  • Reply 111 of 143
    smurfman wrote: »
    ..

    I think you missed a '.'.
  • Reply 112 of 143
    dasanman69dasanman69 Posts: 13,002member
    Marvin wrote: »
    I wonder what he tells GM shareholders about the long-term prospect of being in a low-margin, heavy-manufacturing business.
    They take raw aluminium and turn it into computers, they have some idea what they're getting into. They might even try to make them safer:

    http://www.cultofmac.com/254380/jony-ives-cars/

    "The Aston Martin DB9 is a supercar known for its association with James Bond. Jony had the car delivered to New York and drove it cross-country with his dad, Mike. It cost about $250,000, but just a month after he got it, Jony wrecked the car on Interstate 280 near San Bruno. The accident nearly killed him and his commuting partner, Daniele De Iuliis, who was riding in the passenger seat.
    “Jony was going pretty fast, although he said he was not going over 80 miles per hour,” said a colleague. “Something happened in the traffic. Jony lost control of the car, which went into a spin. It sling-shotted the back end, whacked into a panel truck and knocked that over, and went straight into the median. The whole car was smashed. They were lucky to get out alive. The car was a mess; totally fucked up on all sides.”
    The airbags went off, filling the car with the smell of the explosive that set off the airbags. Jony found the smell unsettling as he came to. “He woke up with the smell of gunpowder in the car and that was weird. He was distressed by that,” said another source. “Ironically, the car crash alerted Apple to how important Jony is to the company and they gave him a big pay raise.”"
    Sapphire car coming up.

    That'll teach him to turn off the traction control. It's gotten hard to lose control of a super car when the traction control is on.
  • Reply 113 of 143
    quinney wrote: »
    Why do Solar City and Musk need Apple? They are already doing it themselves.

    Scale.
  • Reply 114 of 143
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Ingela View Post

     

    I gotta say, as someone who has a business selling big heavy fragile products, I always thought it was genius of a company to sell millions of little gadgets with no  moving parts. Little gadgets with great margins. I think it's genius. 

    To go from that to jumping into selling heavy, fragile products and all the liabilities that go with it, and with much lower margins ...not so much. 




    Actually, that's one reason I can see that companies like Tesla, and potentially Apple, can go into cars. Electric cars are many times more "solid state" than traditional cars. Transportation is an industry begging to be disrupted by solid state experts like Tesla and (even more so) Apple.

  • Reply 115 of 143
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by AnalogJack View Post

    Albeit another diamond filled gold leafed hairball.


    Made me laugh :-)

  • Reply 116 of 143
    You guys that think this is a possibility are really drinking the kool aid. I realize you love Apple and so do I, but come on. It makes no sense from a business perspective.
  • Reply 117 of 143
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by oneaburns View Post



    You guys that think this is a possibility are really drinking the kool aid. I realize you love Apple and so do I, but come on. It makes no sense from a business perspective.



    Of which "business perspective" do you speak? I'm sure it would be interesting to hear you elaborate on this.

    Do you think the automotive industry isn't subject to disruption?

    Did a "business perspective" indicate Apple's entry into the "phone manufacturing" business was sensible in 2007?

    Like any other perspective, a business perspective depends on where one chooses to look from. 

  • Reply 118 of 143
    eriamjheriamjh Posts: 1,630member

    Wow.  Even totally unsubstantiated rumors Apple is building <product X> gets everyone shaking in their boots, commenting about how Apple can't do it, etc.  Recent history has shown that to be unwise.

     

    I personally believe Apple will not and is not looking into building a car (why waste the billions?).  However, they do "think different" and that's what people forget.

  • Reply 119 of 143
    Too Funny. This guy has an uncanny resemblance to Steve Balmer, in a number of ways. Now that I think about it, He sounds like Gates too. "No vehicle will ever need more than 350 horse power". GM, Microsoft, whats the difference. Right on White Falcon.
  • Reply 120 of 143

    Too Funny.  This guy has an uncanny resemblance to Steve Balmer, in a number of ways.  Now that I think about it, He sounds like Gates too. "No vehicle will ever need more than 350 horse power".  GM, Microsoft, whats the difference?  I don't like either one.  

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