BMW and Magna could partner with Apple on cars

After Hyundai quits the race to make an autonomous car for Apple, other contenders could include BMW and Magna, 9To5Mac reported on Tuesday (February 9).

Hyundai said last month that it was not sure it wanted to make a deal with Apple, and announced on Monday (February 8) that it would not. South Korea requires publicly traded companies to provide public updates when there is speculation about prolific rumors that could affect stock prices.

A deal would have relegated the automaker to a mere manufacturer with little interest in the decision-making. The report notes Hyundai’s traditional reluctance to work with outside collaborators and has typically worked alone to make engines and transmissions as South Korea’s largest conglomerate.

“Apple is the boss. They do their marketing, they make their products, they make their mark. Hyundai is also the boss. It doesn’t really work, ”said a source, according to the report.

So now the race is on, but reports indicate that there are reasons big companies might be reluctant to make a deal – with companies likely to be put in the situation of Pegatron and Foxconn, which make iPhones for Apple but don’t get huge funding. rewards for it. Other automakers like Volkswagen have expressed a desire not to let Apple enter their business.

Small businesses could be more open, according to the report, including companies like Honda, Nissan, Stellantis and BMW, according to Jürgen Pieper, analyst at German bank Metzler, as quoted in the report. Additionally, Magna, which already manufactures cars for other automakers, might also be a consideration.

Apple more than doubled its tests of its standalone technology last year, Bloomberg reports. The company’s cars traveled 18,605 miles in 2020, up from 7,544 the year before. According to Apple, there were also 130 disengages, that is, when a human driver had to take over the autonomous vehicle.

Apple’s recent work on self-driving cars has recently come to compete with rivals like Tesla and General Motors. But the tech giant likely won’t have its own product on the road for several years.