[smc23]

Originally Posted by chadwick4eva

I actually think this is a brilliant business decision by them. Due to the extremely expensive up front costs associated with starting a new automotive manufacturing business, tesla had to start their business by entering the luxury segment- the roadster, the model S, the X. Now, tesla has managed to use the higher margins associated with those cars to bring the entry level SUV (Y) and sedan (3) into production. Base prices for these cars are still somewhat pricey compared to an entry level vehicle, however.

By partnering with Kia, apple is taking somewhat the opposite approach. Similar to what they've done with their semiconductor production, they are likely going to be vertically integrating the manufacturing for batteries themselves, while using the production capabilities of a company that makes cheap cars themselves. These will not be kias, they will be apple cars (who the heck would wants to drive a kia?!), and I bet you that they will try to massively undercut the pricing that teslas currently have (like $20k base rather than $40k). I would not be surprised if apple eventually acquired kia just to take over their manufacturing facilities.

This maneuver will bring EV cars to the masses, not just those who can afford a new $40k car. The cars will use apple made batteries, apple made semiconductors/computers, and will likely have multiple other apple ecosystem device integrations. They've built the hardware and software environment to execute this play perfectly.

Agreed. The iCar or whatever Apple decides to call it is the next big thing since the iPhone. The car market alone is worth multiple times more than the smartphone market. If Apple even captures a small percent of the auto marketshare, this will be worth more than their iPhone business. I can only see much greater upside from where we are at now.