If this is all true, I'm very surprised to learn that Hyundai uses separate plant(s) to manufacture essentially the same car(s).
I also doubt that Kia would need to "agree to take control of production". They'd be told they are producing the car.
I don’t know the Hyundai/Kia models that well, is there a Kia made that Hyundai doesn’t offer? Maybe it is a Kia plant that also makes Hyundai’s? Just a wild guess but I could see where the minivan plant would have plenty of spare capacity right now due to the SUV craze. Not saying this is where minivans are made, just an example.
Kia's plant in Georgia makes the Sorento, Optima,Telluride, and made the Hyundai Santa Fe (2010-16). Hyundai's plant in Alabama makes the Sonata, Elantra, and made the Santa Fe (2007-10). Will start making the Tucson and Santa Cruz in 2021.
Since 2016, the Santa Fe production has been shared by both facilities.
Well there went my educated guess. Don’t know how many K5’s (Optima’s) they sell now, but Sorento and Telluride are popular vehicles. I imagine that plant also makes the Palisade. Add Santa Fe production and that has to be a pretty busy plant already.
Proposed models include Puma, Leopard, Mojave, Catalina, and the flagship of the line Big Sur which will have all the bells and whistles. Sure sounds better than Tesla’s S, X, Y, 3.
So a quick scan of Kia website was in order. I can't image Apple producing a car that was not at least a Hybrid. If it's to be made in Georgia, that's only the Sorento, if a commenter above is correct.
The only other such vehicles is the Niro brand: Niro EV, Niro plug-in Hybrid, and the plain Niro Hybrid. Where are these made?
Sounds as if you're looking at this as if it's a co-branding project. As in an Apple branded Niro for example. Apple isn't looking to simply attach their tech to a Kia. I don't think that's what either company has in mind. I think the relationship will be Kia serving as an OEM Manufacturer, like Foxconn or Wistron. Kia as a contract manufacturer makes sense. They are located in the US, have capacity, and can scale tooling and machining to contract manufacture Apple's design specifications without affecting Hyundai's growing reputation.
I'm not thinking of co-branding. I would seem obvious that, if my guess is correct and Apple will be going with an EV Hybrid, they'd be looking at a factory which has existing infrastructure to make such a vehicle for Apple. If they have a number of lines for the Sorento, then these lines would either need to be "duplicated" for Apple, or reconfigured for Apple -- by necessity, then, an Apple vehicle would initially have much in common with the Sorento. If the Niro vehicles are made elsewhere, it's likely Apple's vehicle would not have too much in common with the Niro.
Kia's 2021 Telluride is Consumer Report's #1 Midsized SUV out of 25 tested. Their design and quality have become world class and their vehicles tend to be excellent values, too. Not bad for a relative newcomer to the automotive world. I suspect Apple has made an excellent choice in a partner if these reports are true.
I haven’t found Consumer Reports credible for several decades.
Seems highly unlikely. Kia is Hyundai’s even lower quality car brand. This sounds like a car industry rumor meant to poison the well for Apple.
You OBVIOUSLY haven’t been paying that much attention to Kia of late. The Telluride was practically the ultimate car of the year for every auto magazine and online car ratings. Highly recommended by just about everyone as well. The new Soranto seems to ride the coat tails this year as well.
Kia's 2021 Telluride is Consumer Report's #1 Midsized SUV out of 25 tested. Their design and quality have become world class and their vehicles tend to be excellent values, too. Not bad for a relative newcomer to the automotive world. I suspect Apple has made an excellent choice in a partner if these reports are true.
I haven’t found Consumer Reports credible for several decades.
Good, because you don’t have to. The Telluride by everyone else that does reviews and ratings said the same.
Kia's 2021 Telluride is Consumer Report's #1 Midsized SUV out of 25 tested. Their design and quality have become world class and their vehicles tend to be excellent values, too. Not bad for a relative newcomer to the automotive world. I suspect Apple has made an excellent choice in a partner if these reports are true.
I haven’t found Consumer Reports credible for several decades.
Nor have I.
Well, do some research and you’ll see others said the same.
JD Power rates KIA/Hyundai number 1 in consumer sarusfaction, least amount of complaints for new vehicles for consequtive years. This rating could have influenced Apple to talk to Kia/Hyundai about contract manufacturing for the SUV form factor https://www.jdpower.com/Cars/ratings/kia/2019
Anyone find it ironic that Apple would partner with a korean car company after the billions of dollars spent fighting Samsung?
Not really. Has there ever been a time when Apple didn't use components from S. Korean companies like LG, SK Hynix and Samsung? Heck even when Apple was fighting with Samsung they were still using Samsung components. Besides, their battle was with a division of Samsung, not the entire company, and certainly not the country of S. Korea or other companies from there. So it's kind of hard to find irony in Apple's rumored partnership with a S. Korean car company; especially since Hyundai had nothing to do with Apple v. Samsung.
KIA is a bit downmarket for my taste, but I am sure Apple ran it by the Germans first, Japanese next, both of whom probably said "we don't want to be your Foxconn."
If so, that's a HUGE mistake on their parts. They're going to be relegated to the dung-heap of automotive history.
JD Power rates KIA/Hyundai number 1 in consumer sarusfaction, least amount of complaints for new vehicles for consequtive years. This rating could have influenced Apple to talk to Kia/Hyundai about contract manufacturing for the SUV form factor https://www.jdpower.com/Cars/ratings/kia/2019
KIA is a bit downmarket for my taste, but I am sure Apple ran it by the Germans first, Japanese next, both of whom probably said "we don't want to be your Foxconn."
If so, that's a HUGE mistake on their parts. They're going to be relegated to the dung-heap of automotive history.
Proposed models include Puma, Leopard, Mojave, Catalina, and the flagship of the line Big Sur which will have all the bells and whistles. Sure sounds better than Tesla’s S, X, Y, 3.
That's not how Apple names their hardware. It would be Apple Car, Apple Car 2, Apple Car 3, The new Apple Car, Apple Car, Apple Car, and Apple Car.
You are all thinking about this the wrong way. Apple does not manufacture any of their products. None of them. They don't make their own components either, not even their own Apple Silicon chips. They have business arrangements with companies that manufacture and provide the components and assemble the products. Apple only designs the products. They need other companies to manufacture the components and to build the products. Apple has no idea how to make a car. They need an auto manufacturer to build the car that they design, and manufacture all the components. So it doesn't really matter who they work with. Hyundai or Kia, if any of this is even true, would not be making a Hyundai or Kia vehicle and slapping an Apple logo on it. They would only be using their plant to build the car based on Apple's design. Look at all the components that go into existing vehicles and how one company does not make all the parts that go into the car.
If this is true, an Apple car would be very expensive that most would not be able to afford it. Most would be reluctant to buy one because of servicing, etc. Apple would do better licensing their driving technology to existing manufacturers. I would never buy an Apple Car. Most Apple products lately have been half-baked at best, making people wait months or almost a year for promised features.
You are all thinking about this the wrong way. Apple does not manufacture any of their products. None of them. They don't make their own components either, not even their own Apple Silicon chips. They have business arrangements with companies that manufacture and provide the components and assemble the products. Apple only designs the products. They need other companies to manufacture the components and to build the products. Apple has no idea how to make a car. They need an auto manufacturer to build the car that they design, and manufacture all the components. So it doesn't really matter who they work with. Hyundai or Kia, if any of this is even true, would not be making a Hyundai or Kia vehicle and slapping an Apple logo on it. They would only be using their plant to build the car based on Apple's design. Look at all the components that go into existing vehicles and how one company does not make all the parts that go into the car.
If this is true, an Apple car would be very expensive that most would not be able to afford it. Most would be reluctant to buy one because of servicing, etc. Apple would do better licensing their driving technology to existing manufacturers. I would never buy an Apple Car. Most Apple products lately have been half-baked at best, making people wait months or almost a year for promised features.
On the other hand, an Apple Transport doesn’t need to even look like a car. It could take any form. Could be a self-driving scooter, tuk-tuk or stand-up tricycle.
This makes no sense to me. Hyundai/Kia have already announced their EV plans for 7 models on a dedicated EV platform. It is **insane** to then build EV's on a bespoke Apple platform - to compete with their own cars??
And , sorry, getting Hyundai/Kia to build your car is not the right way to build a premium brand. Hyundai/Kia are still strongly associated with "cheap but good value" products.
I think Apple screwed this one. They could have presented this to automakers who lacked EV platforms some years ago, but the train has left the station as all the big OEMs are well advanced in EV plans. For example VAG sold 121,000 pure EV's with basically no product to sell ( their ID.3 arrived late in the year). They will crush Tesla in # of EV's sold within a year or so. And then there is Ford, Stellantis, BMW, Renault, Mercedes about to flood the market with EV's as well.
This makes no sense to me. Hyundai/Kia have already announced their EV plans for 7 models on a dedicated EV platform. It is **insane** to then build EV's on a bespoke Apple platform - to compete with their own cars??
And , sorry, getting Hyundai/Kia to build your car is not the right way to build a premium brand. Hyundai/Kia are still strongly associated with "cheap but good value" products.
I think Apple screwed this one. They could have presented this to automakers who lacked EV platforms some years ago, but the train has left the station as all the big OEMs are well advanced in EV plans. For example VAG sold 121,000 pure EV's with basically no product to sell ( their ID.3 arrived late in the year). They will crush Tesla in # of EV's sold within a year or so. And then there is Ford, Stellantis, BMW, Renault, Mercedes about to flood the market with EV's as well.
Tesla had the first mover advantage, but now the competition just needs to be incrementally better to take away their entire market.
You are all thinking about this the wrong way. Apple does not manufacture any of their products. None of them. They don't make their own components either, not even their own Apple Silicon chips. They have business arrangements with companies that manufacture and provide the components and assemble the products. Apple only designs the products. They need other companies to manufacture the components and to build the products. Apple has no idea how to make a car.
Part of designing a successful product is knowing that it can be manufactured cost-effectively and to the required spec. There is no point Apple designing a car that no one can build, so saying Apple has no idea how to make a car if they intend to produce one is a bit like saying Apple doesn't know how to build a computer, even if they don't manufacture it in-house.
Secondly, Apple designs many of the manufacturing processes used in its products, even before they'd highlighted the specialist machinery they'd designed and programmed to mill the first unibody laptop Macs. A lot of the equipment used in the factories is owned by Apple, and a lot of the specialist stuff has been designed by Apple. (Which is why they get really annoyed when their manufacturing partners try to use Apple-owned equipment to product devices for the competition.)
Comments
https://www.jdpower.com/Cars/ratings/kia/2019
If so, that's a HUGE mistake on their parts. They're going to be relegated to the dung-heap of automotive history.
Hyundai and Kia are basically the same company.
If this is true, an Apple car would be very expensive that most would not be able to afford it. Most would be reluctant to buy one because of servicing, etc. Apple would do better licensing their driving technology to existing manufacturers. I would never buy an Apple Car. Most Apple products lately have been half-baked at best, making people wait months or almost a year for promised features.
And , sorry, getting Hyundai/Kia to build your car is not the right way to build a premium brand. Hyundai/Kia are still strongly associated with "cheap but good value" products.
I think Apple screwed this one. They could have presented this to automakers who lacked EV platforms some years ago, but the train has left the station as all the big OEMs are well advanced in EV plans. For example VAG sold 121,000 pure EV's with basically no product to sell ( their ID.3 arrived late in the year). They will crush Tesla in # of EV's sold within a year or so. And then there is Ford, Stellantis, BMW, Renault, Mercedes about to flood the market with EV's as well.
Part of designing a successful product is knowing that it can be manufactured cost-effectively and to the required spec. There is no point Apple designing a car that no one can build, so saying Apple has no idea how to make a car if they intend to produce one is a bit like saying Apple doesn't know how to build a computer, even if they don't manufacture it in-house.
Secondly, Apple designs many of the manufacturing processes used in its products, even before they'd highlighted the specialist machinery they'd designed and programmed to mill the first unibody laptop Macs. A lot of the equipment used in the factories is owned by Apple, and a lot of the specialist stuff has been designed by Apple. (Which is why they get really annoyed when their manufacturing partners try to use Apple-owned equipment to product devices for the competition.)
https://www.idownloadblog.com/2013/11/13/bloomberg-details-apples-sophisticated-manufacturing-robots-and-equipment/
https://appleinsider.com/articles/13/11/13/apple-investing-record-105-billion-on-supply-chain-robots-machinery
https://www.macrumors.com/2017/07/24/apple-to-set-up-oled-panel-line-taiwan/
https://www.idownloadblog.com/2017/07/14/apple-buys-iphone-8-pcb-equipment/