New developments in Apple's car-making ambitions? Targeting specific collaborations and making moves? Collaborating with BYD and CATL on batteries, both of which saw stock price increases; rumors of talks with Hyundai sent Hyundai’s stock soaring. Any guesses on who the next collaboration partner might be? Has anyone analyzed the resumes of Apple’s executives? Partnering with second-tier automakers may be more realistic?
Let’s also speculate: when will Apple officially announce its car project?
On June 11, Apple (AAPL.O) hired former BMW executive Ulrich Kranz to restart its car project. Kranz had previously worked on electric vehicle development at BMW and was also involved in founding the EV startup Canoo.
Earlier this year, Hyundai Motor Company stated that it was in talks with Apple to produce an electric vehicle model. However, Hyundai later retracted those remarks and confirmed that it was no longer in negotiations.
Apple has never confirmed that it is manufacturing cars, but it has hired automotive talent and tested autonomous driving software in California. In 2018, Apple hired Doug Field, who had been involved in the development of Tesla's Model 3.
On April 22, industry insiders revealed: 'Apple’s car project is currently conducting tests and validation for related 5G+C-V2X modules, with the Apple Car expected to be unveiled in the second half of the year.'
In January this year, Bloomberg cited sources familiar with the matter as saying that given Apple’s car development was still in its early stages...