The rumors around the Apple car do not stop. Although in many cases they are contradictory among themselves, especially in regard to dates and development processes, the truth is that they all agree on the same thing — the company is very interested in putting its own car on the streets.
Apple’s philosophy regarding its products has always been different. And with the Apple car, it seems that not much will change. That is an in-house design, and manufacturing, and assembly with the support of an external company.
The options, as pointed out by Mark Gurman in his latest report on the Apple car, are also wide, and basically, three — partner with an existing car manufacturer, build Apple’s own manufacturing facilities, and as an alternative option, teaming up with a contract manufacturer like Foxconn or Magna International Inc. just like the iPhone.
The second of them is the least likely. Building its own production process from scratch to build a car is not something simple, cheap, or short in time. According to the analyst, partnering with a current manufacturer to jointly develop the Apple car wouldn’t be a great fit either.
According to a source from Gurman, Apple wants to challenge current assumptions of how a car works — how the seats are made, what the design is like, and so on. That makes, according to Gurman’s source, a traditional automaker would be reluctant to partner with such a potentially disruptive competitor.
This would leave us the last option — Apple designs and creates the car, and a third party manufactures it. Just like the iPhone and the rest of the company’s devices.
Apple is more likely to go with a contract manufacturer because that’s the business model they’re used to. Gurman’s sources shed no further light on the matter. The candidates are many and varied, but until Apple does not pronounce the matter, everything is unknown. Gurman and some of his sources point to Magna Inc. as Apple’s car manufacturing partner.
