It’s a bit hard to tell at this point how serious Apple actually is about bringing an electric car all the way to market. The company could, after all, simply end up selling its research and technology if it ends up deciding that following through all the way wouldn’t be worth it financially.
The CEO of Fiat Chrylser, and the Ferrari chairman, Sergio Marchionne, recently commented on the matter, interestingly — if his opinion is considered to be of import on the matter — stating that he thought that Apple would indeed follow through on the matter.
BREAKING: Ferrari’s chairman tells CNBC he thinks that Apple will market an Apple car. $RACEhttps://t.co/UVHQXwGUmA
— CNBC Now (@CNBCnow) October 21, 2015
Electrek provides more information:
The Ferrari boss explained that he believes the automobile space is one in which Apple can exhibit its skills, clarifying that he believes Apple will have a car assembled rather than building it on their own. Marchionne added that Apple has not approached Fiat for being its partner for assembling a car. When asked if Fiat could become the Foxconn in Apple’s car supplier equation, the Ferrari chairman reacted negatively to the thought of being a low margin supplier in the car space for Apple, but admitted that car markers are positioned to work with partners like Apple and Google as the industry changes. Interestingly, Apple’s Eddy Cue has had a seat on Ferrari’s board for nearly three years.
The Ferrari chairman’s remarks come just days after Apple CEO Tim Cook publicly stated that the auto industry is at an “inflection point for massive change, not just evolutionary change” during an interview at the WSJD conference. The answer came when Cook was asked about increasing evidence that Apple is developing an electric vehicle under the codename Project Titan. Cook said Apple is focused on CarPlay and bringing the iPhone experience to the car in the short time, but certainly left the door open with this teaser: “We will see what we do in the future.”
Interesting comments. Though perhaps not all that revealing. Apple’s end game on the whole matter still seems rather opaque to me. I’m to a fair degree rather skeptical of some of the claims made by the company — though, at the same time, there’s no denying that the auto industry is now gearing up for some big changes. Interesting times.
The good old American way, if it isn’t “worth it financially” then forget it. Billions off-shore to avoid taxes even more reason to not do something society needs!
Well, we could try reducing the corporate tax rate to encourage those corporations to bring that money back to America. Better to invest it here, creating American jobs, than to park it off shore. Just a thought.